College Admission: From Application to Acceptance Step by Step

Our New Guide to the Application Form, Including Changes to the Common App

It's here -- our completely revised and updated guide, The Application Form, a real-time digital supplement to College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step.

It's a complete guide to filling out the college application, which serves as the cornerstone of a student's admission file, including:

  • A walk through the new Common Application, step by step.
  • An explanation of why colleges want this information and our best advice for how to provide it.
  • Answers to students' questions about extracurricular activities, academics, testing, and essays are addressed.
  • Guidance on fee waivers, deadlines, "fast apps," and resumes.
  • A To Do List for the many moving parts so students can put their best foot forward when completing their applications.

Download your complete free copy here.

College Admission on College Smart Radio

Christine VanDeVelde will be talking all things college admission with host Beatrice Schultz on College Smart Radio, 1220 AM KDOW, the Wall Street Business Network, this Saturday. Tune in at 3 p.m. PT to learn more about the biggest mistake families make in the college application process, creating a list of colleges, and college visits -- and find out if it's really true that "It's impossible to get into college today!" Never fear, it's not, though that's not what most headlines would have you believe...

Financial Aid Checklist: Part I

Paying for college is a concern for most families. But the single biggest mistake families make in the college application process is failing to apply for financial aid. Even if you think you won't qualify, apply. You may be pleasantly surprised. Today, we're pleased to bring you Part I of a checklist of tasks you should be tackling right now to pay for college, courtesy of College Advisor Alice Kleeman. Use this checklist to make sure you are eligible for ALL the aid you may qualify for.

RESOURCES!

Have a question about a gap year? Scholarships? Guidebooks for your college search? Undocumented students? Learning differences? Don't forget to take advantage of our extensive listing of Resources! You'll find books and websites for every step and aspect of the college application process under Resources when you click on the Book tab in the header of the website. Check back regularly! We always updating our listings!

Juniors: Objective Guidebooks and Websites for your College Search

Guidebooks and websites are great starting points for an initial college search. Objective guidebooks and websites are comprehensive catalogs that provide at-a-glance overviews for colleges and universities -- facts and figures on variables such as location, cost, test scores, academics, athletics and financial aid. The guidebooks are available in bookstores, libraries and the office of your high school college counselor. Websites are available to everyone free of charge.

Here are the objective guidebooks and websites we recommend:

Books

College HandbookThe College Board
Four Year CollegesPeterson’s
Four Year College Admissions Data: Index of Majors and Sports available fromWintergreen Orchard House

Websites

Seniors: Do you know where your deadlines are?

It's not too soon to begin to keep track of deadlines for your applications, essays, financial aid, letters of recommendation, interviews and any other special requirements such as arts portfolios. Deadlines are important in the college application process. You do not want to miss out on financial aid, housing or even a seat at one of your top colleges by failing to submit information on time. Use whatever method feels easiest for you -- that might be an Excel spreadsheet, an electronic to-do list, a day planner, desk calendar or designated notebook. You can find our Application Deadline Organizer and Financial Aid Deadline Organizer available for download here in both Word and Excel. Whatever method you decide on, update it faithfully and consult it frequently to keep yourself on track for a successful admission process.   

Sheila Roberts, Bob Jones High School

In 1979, when Sheila Roberts and her family moved to Decatur, Alabama, she looked across the Tennessee River to the town of Madison and it was just cotton fields. She was a stay-at-home mother, raising two children. No longer. Today, Madison is a diverse and thriving community -- one of the fastest growing cities in the Southeast -- drawing families from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the U.S. Army Post Redstone Arsenal and the University of Alabama at Huntsville. And Roberts counsels their students as the College and Career Advisor at Madison's Bob Jones High School.

Named for former Congressman Robert E. Jones, Jr., who represented the area from 1947 until 1977, Bob Jones is a public high school serving approximately 2,100 students. Roberts joined the staff in 2003, building the counseling program from scratch -- growing it from one file cabinet in a small study room in the Media Center to twelve file cabinets in what is now the College/Career Center. She says she is constantly struck by the benevolence, diversity and growth of the community. Bob Jones opened in 1974, moved to a larger facility in 1996, and -- underestimating the growth in the area -- had to relocate the 9th grade class a few years later until a second high school was opened last year.

College Admission is On the Road Again...

College Admission is on the road again... We'll be traveling for the next ten days to speak to students and parents in northern and southern California and Oregon. We'll still be posting and Tweeting and Pinteresting, but it will be lighter for the next week. Nevertheless, don't miss our weekly advice for juniors and seniors, the Q&A with our Counselor of the Month next Monday and the next guest post from Will Dix, aka The Crabby Counselor, who has some excellent advice for students about the college search. And, in the meantime, we'll be finding out what's on the minds of juniors and seniors -- and their families -- so we can provide even better advice about the college application process.

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