College decision day is May 1st. And there are deadlines before then as well: early decision, early action, regular decision. The dates vary from college to college, but they all have one thing in common: they will be here before you know it. The question on everyone’s minds is what they should be doing for college applications this early, and although this process can seem overwhelming, it can be broken down into several main topics; here are the 5 things you should be starting to think about if you are planning on attending college in the fall of 2019.  

        1. The Common App

The Common App is a common application used by over 800 colleges in the United States, so chances are, at least one of the colleges you may be applying to will accept it. With the Common App, you only need to complete one application and one essay, unless your college requires writing supplements. To get started, visit https://www.commonapp.org/ and make an account by clicking on “apply now” found in the upper right corner. The rest of the process is easy to follow and is split into 5 sections (profile, family, education, testing, activities) as well as a 6th writing section for writing the Common App essay. The Common App opened August 1st, so now is a great time to make an account and start working!

       2. Other Applications

If your college does not accept the Common App, they will likely have their own application for you to complete with personal questions and essay topics. To find this application, visit the college’s website. The list of colleges you want to apply to might contain some colleges that accept the Common App and some that don’t; if so, get to work! You will have to fill out the Common App for those that accept it as well as individual applications for all of the colleges that don’t.

        3.  Your Essay

Your college essay: it’s been in the back (probably really, really far back) of your mind since you were just a kid. You always hear people talking about their college essay in movies and TV shows, but how important is it really? The answer is VERY important. Your essay is the only way the college you’re applying to will get to know what kind of person you are, outside of your grades and test scores. This website has good advice and topic ideas to get you started if you have no idea what to write about: https://blog.prepscholar.com/college-essay-ideas.  

        4. FAFSA/CSS

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and CSS (College Scholarship Service) profile are tools that colleges use to determine how much financial aid you should receive as a student; some colleges use both the FAFSA and the CSS profile and some use only the FAFSA, so check which one(s) the college you want to apply to prefers before you fill them both out. Your parents can be helpful resources when completing these forms because of the questions about finances and taxes. FAFSA is student aid that is run through the federal government, visit this website to start looking at the FAFSA application: https://fafsa.ed.gov/?sub_id=39f51287494d4946b2cfe0b9b02ae3ae. The FAFSA opens on October 1st, 2018 and the deadline for completing it is June 30th, 2019. The CSS profile is different; it is non-federal student aid (so not run through the government) that is offered through College Board; visit this website to start looking at it: https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/. The time to complete the CSS profile is between October 1st and usually around January 1st (different colleges have different deadlines). Both the FAFSA and CSS profiles are very important to fill out; you are basically giving up FREE money if you don’t complete these!

         5.  Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation are one of the reasons you should be kind and respectful to your high school teachers; if your teachers don’t like you, you aren’t going to get positive letters of recommendation! Once you have figured out which teachers to ask about writing recommendations, you will need to visit your counselor to ask them for a letters of recommendation application. After filling out this application, give a copy to each teacher you are asking to write a recommendation for you as well as your counselor (who will also, possibly, need to write a letter of recommendation depending on the application requirements of your colleges). On the Common App and other applications, there is a section for you to add the emails of the teachers who are recommending you so they can send their letter directly to the college. The final thing to think about is FERPA, which is something you need to sign to acknowledge that you consent to not reading your letters of recommendation; you can sign this online on the Common App. And, don’t forget to thank your teachers for writing you your letters of recommendation (bringing them cookies doesn’t hurt)!

Easy, right? Well… no, not at all! Applying to college is complicated and can be confusing and full of surprises. This article is just a starting point; you need to do your own research when applying to college to make sure that you have covered all of your bases. These 5 things, however, are a great place to start. Good luck and have fun applying, Cougars!

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