#1 College Visit Lesson: Know This Before You Apply

Thinking of doing a college visit in the US, Canada, or the UK? You should do it if you can!

If you can’t, getting information from students who have is the next best thing. Several of our students wisely used their summer breaks to visit university campuses in the US or do a college visit in Canada. They brought back some wonderful stories and ideas for how to proceed through the admissions process. The most important college visit lesson came straight from admissions officers:

Submit your application online first, then prepare and send your other documents.

This information is mind-blowing because this is the exact OPPOSITE of how everyone applies to universities. Usually, you gather your transcripts, test scores, and recommendations and send them off (or at least compile them before you apply). Then you fill out the application and wait for feedback. This way makes sense, right? Wrong.

If you complete the application first, you won’t miss the deadline. We’ve all been up late on the evening of the deadline waiting to submit the app. Don’t wait! Do it as soon as you can. Often universities expect supplemental documents to arrive later. Many universities even have separate, later deadlines for documents.
Your application opens your file. Once they get the app, they will expect your supplemental documents and can match them to your file easily when received. You’ll avoid a lot of administrative hassles (like mismatched or lost documents).
Once universities receive your application, they know to “hold a place for you.” They won’t make a decision to accept, waitlist, or reject you until your file is complete or your application is withdrawn.

As soon as you identify the universities you want to apply to, get the application done…then start working on the supplemental documents. You’ll proceed much more calmly through the application process.

Note: For students applying to universities using the Common Application, you can still roughly follow this process. Fill out the Common App as soon as you identify one university to which you want to apply. The beauty of the Common App is that it’s easy to add universities with only a little work once you’ve completed the application for the first one.

Can’t Do a College Visit?

Do a virtual one! Many universities now have virtual campus tours that you can do online. It’s not as good as the real thing, but it will give you an idea of the campus, the facilities, and the place where you’ll spend 4 wonderful years.

Need help applying to universities?

Whatsapp us or email eden@apply-me.com to find out how we can help you or your student. We offer comprehensive application packages that take the headache out of the entire process.