What Rising Seniors Can and Should Do This Summer in the Common App

On Independence Day, I attended a lovely barbecue with an old friend.  We began chatting about her teenaged daughter, whom I’ll call “Emily.”  A rising senior, Emily has been homeschooled since seventh grade.  My friend asked, “When should Emily start writing her college application?”  As a college application coach since 2014, I responded immediately, “Yesterday!” 

In this post, the first of a two-part series, I’ll lay out the many tasks that rising seniors can and should complete this summer. Then, I’ll describe the ways that college application coaches can help students start – and finish – these key tasks.  When applicable, I’ll mention why such college application coaching can be especially valuable for homeschooled students like Emily.  Next month, I’ll list which application tasks students can do in the fall.  By the end of this two-part series, parents and teens will have a clear “to-do” list for college applications.

Image by @thomasbormans on Unsplash.

College Application Coach Tip #1: Finish your main essay(s) and Common App profile by September 1.

Most students will apply to at least one college through the Common App.  An online portal, the Common App hosts students’ applications and sends them digitally to any of its more than 1000 member institutions.  If your child can find a college in its search bar, they can apply to that college via the Common App.  (Not all universities belong to the Common App.  For example, like many western state institutions, the University of California system hosts its own application portal.  UC's four "Personal Interest Questions" are completely different essay questions than those on the Common App.  As a college application coach, I advise students applying to colleges on and off the Common App to allot plenty of time to essay writing.)

If a school is on the Common App, it will accept one of the seven Common App essay prompts.  The Common App doesn’t “refresh” until late July, so college-specific supplemental essay colleges won’t be available until after August 1.  However, the Common App announces its main essay questions for the upcoming application cycle in February of each year.  Most college application coaches rising seniors advise teens to get to work on the main Common App essay NOW.

Likewise, your child can create and finish about 80% of their Common App profile prior to August 1.  Completing the profile takes patience and time.  The Common App requests basic demographic information about not just students, but also about parents.  Where and when did parents attend college?  What's your Social Security number? Your child won’t know answers to many requested items.  You may also provide helpful memories of students’ forgotten extracurricular activities from 9th and 10th grades.  As a college application coach, I suggest setting aside at least one hour per week to fill out these sections together.  In addition, my own college application coaching includes helping students reword Activities and Honors to present their extracurriculars in the best light.

College Application Coach Tip #2: Finalize your college list by September 1.

As I intimated above, many universities require more than just the main Common App personal statement.   Colleges don’t always publish their supplemental essay questions right on August 1.  So, it’s okay to plan on starting them in early September.  However, if you don’t know to which colleges you’re applying, you can’t even start that process!  That’s why it’s crucial for students to finalize their college list by September 1.

Building a college list requires specialized knowledge, experience, and realism.  Gone are the days when a 1550 SAT score or a 4.0 GPA opened doors to the most prestigious institutions.  Many school guidance and college counselors will provide your child with a customized list containing “reach,” “target,” and “likely” schools.  Other counselors, however, carry such a heavy student load that they’re unable to provide anything but the most perfunctory of lists.  Of course, if you are looking for expert guidance personally tailored to your child, Crimson Coaching’s college application coaching can provide that.  Feel free to contact me here.

Finally, I suggested here to request your letters of application from teachers in the spring.  However, if you haven’t accomplished that task yet, make sure you do so immediately.  Do not leave your requests until September, when most teachers are harried and may already have filled their quota of letters.  Before I became a college application coach, I was a high school teacher.  I wrote most of my students’ recommendation letters during the summer!

Image by @museumsvictoria on Unsplash. Yes, when I began teaching, I wrote almost as many letters as this sailor!

College Application Coach Tip #3: Completing Tips #1 and 2 is Often Reeeeeeally Difficult for Teens.

Procrastination.  Writers’ block.  Overwhelm.  As a college application coach, I’ve seen it all.  There are probably as many reasons for not starting a college application as there are teens themselves!

The first way a college application coach can help a student is by providing accountability.  Some adults will only exercise if they have a trainer waiting for them at the gym.  Likewise, some kids will only work on their application when they have a college application coach waiting for them on Zoom or at the front door.

In addition, a great college application coach will provide creative and organizational direction.  The right college application coach will suggest solutions that get applications done well and on time.  Application coaches who also work as college counselors can also suggest institutions to apply to for families struggling to build a college list (see Tip #2 above).

In rare cases, guidance or college counseling departments in schools help students with these tasks.  In my decade of working as a college application coach, however, I’ve found that most do not.  Most school counselors will furnish a college list. But they do not have the time or writing expertise to guide students through crafting a superlative essay or check in on the application’s progress.  Most homeschooled students have no access to any guidance or college counselor.  For them, a college application coach can shepherd the family through each unknown step of the application process.

Lastly, by taking pressure off you, college application coaches help maintain positive relationships between parents and applicants.  As long as your child is attending their college application coaching sessions regularly, there’s no need to nag, coax, cajole, bribe or yell at your child to just.get.it.done.already!

Conclusion: Difficult, Not Impossible

Is the college application process stressful? Absolutely! It is impossible? Not at all! With or without a college application coach, millions of high school seniors DO apply to college every fall. If your child starts the process NOW, an arduous journey becomes not just doable. It might even become exciting for you all to sit back and contemplate their first step into adulthood!

As I mentioned above, teens can and do apply to college without coaches all the time. But if you think that your teen might need one, please don’t hesitate to reach out here.

Stay tuned for next month’s post, when I describe the many tasks still to do before clicking “SUBMIT” on November 1!