Spring Reminders for High School Seniors
For high school seniors and their families, it’s a WEIRD time. Some students might have made their post-high school decisions several months ago, but most are dealing with a barrage of communication and fluctuating emotions. Whether a student is celebrating acceptances, dealing with a heartbreaking rejection, figuring out a deferral or waitlist situation, chances are that your senior feels overwhelmed. Many parents feel the same way. Here is a quick checklist for you and your student to make sure you are staying on track.
ACCEPTANCES:
Many schools send out decisions later in the spring, but some are likely rolling in now. If your student has received some acceptances, congratulations to them! For most U.S. colleges, a student doesn’t have to “commit” (i.e. make a decision) until May 1. In the meantime, here are a few things to stay on top of regarding the schools that have offered you an acceptance:
Your student should check their email and their school portal – regularly. Announcements and deadlines will come through those channels and students can miss important opportunities and get behind if they don’t stay caught up. You can read more about this in our blog post about email communication.
Track deadlines – you can use our free Decision Tracker for this. Pro tip: your student’s portal will have deadlines and to do lists front and center. It’s easier to track portal info than emails.
Once your student has decided for sure that they will not be attending a school, they can let the school know. Keep in mind though that they should not feel rushed to do this. In fact, we suggest keeping options open while financial aid packages and additional decisions come in.
Make sure that the schools your student has been accepted to are listed on their FAFSA and that the schools have received the report (called the FAFSA Submission Summary). You should be able to see this on your student’s portal. If you have any questions, call or email the school’s Financial Aid Office!
And here’s the HOT TIP: many schools have scholarship application information that is available only to admitted students (and sometimes only to students who have committed to the school). Students can usually log into this scholarship portal through the school’s website. If your student has trouble finding this scholarship information, they should reach out to the admissions or financial aid office at the school. These are listings of scholarship opportunities that are in addition to merit aid and need-based aid. You can read our scholarship blog post for more guidance on this.
REJECTIONS:
Unfortunately, rejections also come with the territory. It is hard for students not to take these personally, and it can be very difficult to move on from the dream of a particular school. We wish we had some great words of wisdom to help make this easier, but we don’t. Here are a few suggestions for parents who are trying to help a disappointed kid:
Frank Bruni’s Book is great. It’s a quick and very on point read that can help change perspectives.
Lisa Damour gives great advice and reminds us that we (as parents) should strive to not be more disappointed than our child or more excited than our child (even if that’s how we feel inside).
Talk to your student about how they want to update others on college applications. As your student navigates this path, they may prefer that information about acceptances or rejections remain confidential within a family, and that you respond to questions with “They don’t know where they will be going yet and probably won’t until April sometime.” No one else is entitled to the play by play breakdown.
WAITLISTS AND DEFERRALS:
We have a detailed blog post on waitlists and deferrals and won’t rewrite that here, but there a few key things to remember:
Follow instructions from the school regarding additional information or Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI).
Fall in love with another school while waiting . . .
Check email DAILY and don’t ignore phone calls. Especially in waitlist situations, sometimes students have a very short time to respond to an offer and missing an email or phone call can have huge consequences.
ONCE A STUDENT DECIDES:
Things get clearer once a student decides where they will be going. That’s when things like housing deposits, roommate selection, placement exams, and orientation scheduling will kick in. Your Decision Tracker will help keep your student on schedule.
Even with all of this going on, your student is wrapping up a significant chapter of life and getting ready to graduate from high school. Take time to enjoy the moments together as you look forward to the next chapter.
