Admission Now! Quick Tips Post #2
This week’s Quick Tips – Post #2 comes from one of our supportive advisors, who just so happens to have applied at least 4 times, for 4 different children…you’re right if you guessed that she has some organizational skills! Thanks, Liz!
Organization, organization, by Elizabeth Perez Azerad, RIISE Multicultural Advisor
I took a quick tally of the number of times we’ve applied a child for a new school entry point and I came up with 12! Each of these 12 times we applied to 4-15 institutions so here is my Admissions Quick Tip to help make the process easier for you.
DEVISE A WELL ORGANIZED SYSTEM TO ASSURE YOUR ADMISSION FILES ARE COMPLETE
Whether you use an Excel spreadsheet, handmade chart or a blank piece of paper attached to the school’s literature with a large black paper clip, make a detailed checklist of every step that you need to do in order to make your child’s file complete.
Every school has variations on what is required so make these checklists as specific as needed to increase your success and lessen stress as you proceed through the process. Include due dates for each item.
Here is a sample list of things I’ve included on my checklists:
date and time of admission open house, request for application, written or online application information section, student essay, parent essay, letter of recommendations, photo of student, financial aid documents, waiver or payment, playdate interview scheduled, transcripts requested, transcripts sent, interviews scheduled, standardized testing scheduled, standardized test results sent and received, thank you note to admissions officials.
-The small details to complete a file add up quickly so I always prefer to block several hours of quiet work time to create an individualized complete checklist for each school.
-You’ll notice that checking some items off the list will require you to login to an online system or make a phone call to politely inquire if a student’s file is complete. Get requests for recommendations and transcript transfers in early and allow several weeks for these to arrive before you call to check on a complete file.
The more attention I put to this early in the process, the easier it is to know that, once my file is complete, it’s time to sit back, relax and remind myself that it’s out of my hands.
Good luck and get organized!
*Disclaimer: Admissions Now! Quick Tips and it’s content offered by admissions, parents, and consultants are designed to guide the admissions journey and in no way guarantees admission/enrollment.