1,204 Start Vandy Applications in First Week

According the the Vandy Admissions Blog 1,204 prospective member of the class of 2013 started the Vanderbilt version of the Common Application in the first week that it was available (July 1 - July 8). This is another reminder that it's never too early for Seniors to get started working on their applications. The Common App is a good place to start since it is now accepted at 346+ schools.

On your marks, get set...

MIT Admission Blog & Student Comments

As I continue to catch up on my admissions blogs this post from MIT demonstrates another benefit of following them.

It announces that MIT's online application is now live for freshmen, describes the steps to register and outlines the upcoming deadlines. By itself this would be very helpful for someone interested in applying to MIT. This information can probably be found on the MIT admissions web site, but it's here too, and it's concisely organized.

More interesting are the 146 comments to this post, largely from 'pre-frosh' -- high school students that are interested in applying to MIT. The MIT admissions blog is the most successful I've seen at building up an engaged 'community'. Many of these comments are trivial and unhelpful, but a subset enhance the original post. The blog also draws comments and answers to questions from current students. This conversation between the admissions department, pre-frosh and existing students add another resource to help better understand MIT, the school and its admissions process.

So, as you're reading admissions blogs for schools you're interested in, don't forget to look at the comments too.

While on the topic of this year's on-line applications, the UVA admissions blog announced the availability of the 2008/2009 Common Application and the UVA supplement a couple of weeks ago. If your Senior wants to get ahead, now's a good time to start filling out and applications for schools you know you're interested in (and/or the Common Application).

Seniors: August Advice from Johns Hopkins

Greg (& I) get a bunch of unsolicited email and snail mail from colleges. I think one of us must have checked a 'yes, please send us tons of spam' checkbox as part of PSAT registration, or something like that. One day I'll count how much we've received, but I'm sure its many hundreds of messages. Most of them are from colleges we don't care about and they just get filed away. Every once in awhile they come from a school of interest, or have some good advice. We received just such an email from Johns Hopkins yesterday that has valuable advice for Seniors. Here it is:

August: Calm Before the Storm

Your senior year is going to be a whirl of activities. Everything you do this year will be geared toward two things: getting accepted to college and graduation. This month might be your last chance to quietly explore your educational options without the pressure of monthly decision-making, application writing, and examination taking. Use your time well.

Get organized. If you haven't done it yet, cut your list of schools down to around eight or 10. Look carefully at each one, matching it against your goals and capabilities. Which schools have majors that reflect your interests? Which ones look like a good fit for financial and scholarship support? Where do you feel like you could be happy?

Get started completing applications so you don't have to do it this fall. Some deadlines for scholarships (school-based and independent) are coming up fast in September and October. Get your résumé in great shape. Every application, scholarship application, and special recognition program will want a copy.

Seniors, Get Started on 2008 Application Essays

As the summer winds down I'm reminded of some good advice I've read for rising Seniors (if I remember where I'll update this with the links). "...use the summer to start writing your application essays". Obviously this saves having to do them in the midst of Fall AP Classes, football games, etc. It also helps minimize that stressful mad rush to get applications done in December.

Since it may still be unclear to which schools you're going to apply, a relatively safe way to start is to check out the one required essay for the Common Application. Over 340 colleges (here's the list) accept the Common App now, so it's pretty likely you'll be filling it out (online) soon.

If you're applying to a selective college it's possible that they will require 'supplemental' essays (and other materials). You'll need to check the admissions sites for each college to see their requirements. (If someone is familiar with a site that has collected this supplemental information for a number of colleges, please leave the link in comments). Here are Stanford's additional essay requirements (three 250 word essays), along with a reprint of this year's Common Application essay choices.

I'm Back

After a 9 month hiatus I'm back to blogging about college admissions. The admissions process for my (now a rising Senior) son Greg has been ongoing and in upcoming posts I'll recount various aspects of it to bring you up to date.

Since Greg is entering his Senior Year the next 9 months will be intense and exciting. In addition to recounting Greg's experiences I'll also be helping the guidance counselors at his high school with admissions-related activities, and I'll be launching a college admissions oriented web site. All these activities should provide a rich source of material and experiences to fuel this blog, and to provide you with tips and insights into the college admissions process.

With so much to cover, my new goal is to post to CollegeAdmissionForum every day. Along with this I will be working hard to build up a community of college-bound students and their parents so that we can stimulate some interesting discussions and draw on their experiences as well. So please check back regularly (or subscribe to the feed) for more frequent and hopefully helpful, college admissions information and experiences.