Your Admissions Journey is Almost Over. What Now?

Seniors, your admissions journey is wrapping up. For the lucky ones, this year’s admissions process came to a happy conclusion in December, with an offer of admission to a dream school. For many others, application work reached its peak between late December and mid-January. Finally, after a long and stressful first semester, you can exhale.

What happens now? Whether you are sporting a brand-new college sweatshirt or compulsively checking your application portals to make sure all your regular decision applications are complete, the next few months are important ones for all seniors. They say slow and steady wins the race but really, it’s about consistency.

SENIOR SLUMP OR SENIOR SURGE?

You’ve been working hard managing the pandemic-upheaval of the last two years. With high school graduation just a few months away, it’s tempting to ease up and let senioritis take hold – especially if you’re set with your college plans.

A word to the wise: college admissions officers want to see that you finish your high school career with a record that reflects your work the past four years. Check the fine print on your offer of admission or the college’s website. Let your grades drop too far and you may see your offer of admission rescinded. Trust us – it can (and does) happen. From our collective experience on both sides of the admissions process, we’ve seen students lose their college spots because they simply blew off the remainder of senior year or took shortcuts that resulted in academic honor code violations.

Students admitted early decision, we’re especially talking to you right now! Your early admission is a reflection of your academic accomplishments and intellectual engagement. Very likely, your teachers and counselors sang your praises in their letters of recommendation: “one of the most engaged students I’ve ever taught;” “her papers set the standard for the class;” and “his contributions to our discussion escalate the conversations.” Don’t let your teachers down and continue to build a strong academic foundation that will help you to soar in college. Set an example for your peers and younger students with your commitment to learning and a job well done.

CHARACTER COUNTS

As we’ve said many times before, character matters in college admissions. Admissions officers care deeply about academic and personal integrity and seek clues from your application that you are a leader, role model and positive contributor to your community.

With students chronicling all aspects of their lives on social media, it only stands to reason that information shared via these platforms can eventually make its way into the admissions process. In fact, a spring 2018 survey of college admissions officers found that the majority of college admissions officers and students think that applicants’ social media accounts are fair game for scrutiny. Character is alive and well on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more.

Now’s the time to check your social media presence. Any tweets, blogs and posts that highlight behavior that could be viewed as illegal or objectionable – no matter when they were created — can lead admissions officers to question your character and integrity. An otherwise strong applicant may be denied admission and admitted students may see their offers rescinded after social media posts bring to light evidence of behaviors that would not be welcome on any campus. Again – trust us. It happens.

FINISH STRONG

You’ve pursued a range of activities beyond the classroom that showcase your talents, leadership, initiative, passions, and values. We know that by the time you graduate, over two years of your high school career will have been impacted in some way by the pandemic. Nevertheless, you hung in there, showcasing your creativity and resiliency as you pivoted to changing circumstances. Now, as you enter the final semester of high school, take the time to put an exclamation point on your high school career. Stay committed to those groups and organizations that you joined – hopefully, it wasn’t just to look good on your college applications. Did you start a new club or initiative at your high school? We’re sure you don’t mean for it to slide into irrelevancy when you graduate and that you care enough about the causes you champion to find younger peers to take the baton and run with it. If you truly care about making the world a better place, why stop now?

SHOW GRATITUDE

Parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, mentors, siblings, and friends: we’ve all leaned on someone these past few years and we’ve benefitted from the wisdom and kindness of the important people in our lives. Seniors, take a moment now and show your gratitude, especially to those who have been instrumental in your successes.

So, yes… Be consistent, finish strong but also finish respectably.

Author
Recent Posts

Maria Laskaris

Senior Private Counselor at Top Tier Admissions

Maria Laskaris joins Top Tier Admissions as one of the most experienced admissions deans in the country. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 1984, and served as Director of Admissions at Dartmouth for over a decade where she evaluated tens of thousands of applicants. From 2007-2015 she served as the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Dartmouth, overseeing all facets of the admissions and financial aid processes. She played an integral role in developing key enhancements to the Common Application, serving on the 14-member Board of Directors. With over 25 years of admissions experience at one of the most selective colleges in the country, she provides an insider’s perspective like no other, with deep knowledge of selective college admissions.

In addition, Maria is proud of her long-term volunteer work with Opera North (Lebanon, NH) in fundraising, marketing and audience engagement. She is an avid masters rower with the Upper Valley Rowing Foundation (Hanover, NH) and also serves as a member of its board of directors.

Latest posts by Maria Laskaris (see all)