@odannyboySF except for schools with rolling admissions.
our DD’18 took advantage of the 4 free reports for her safety school (State Flagship) and a few others she know she was interested in. She will have to pay the $12 each for a few more after she finalizes her list.
Congratulations @bearcatfan !
There’s no need to send scores early, but for whatever reason, they take time to get there, so you can’t wait too long either. Apparently they are carried by donkey.
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So, do you send the score reports, before the apps are sent? If so, how much lead time would you give the CB, etc.?
If ED/EA/REA is 11/1, when would be the best time to send? And UC’s have a deadline of 11/30, how much lead time there?
As I recall for my D15, I think she sent scores sometime in September. She was finished with all testing then. Apps followed later, the earliest was November 1. We had no issues with the apps and the scores being put together by the schools. Just my experience, but this is likely what D18 will do as well.
ETA: she will self-report the scores on her apps also.
For Nov. I would send by beginning of Oct at the latest.
It is really only an issue for schools with rolling admission or if your kiddo is applying ED or EA. I would self-report the SAT or ACT scores with the application, so they have them and get the SAT score report sent as soon as possible after the application is submitted. Most admissions committees do not need the official report until they are going through the selection process from January to March. Just to be sure, check with your specific school. The above is what we were told when our first 2 went through the process. We were told to never pay the extra rush fee. Colleges don’t want you to throw money away.
@mommdc @suzy100 @glido Thank you! We will shoot for the month of September then.
So D isn’t applying to any schools with rolling admissions, AFAIK, but are there schools in the Top 50 that have a reputation of reviewing and sending out acceptances once the app window opens, but that don’t have an official “rolling admissions” policy?
S’s top two (only two?) schools both have rolling admissions, and there’s a cascade of other deadlines that favor applying super early. App for the Honors college? You get it after you complete the app for admission. Housing priority for freshman? Determined by application date, and you get access to the housing app on acceptance.
S is hoping for some of the harder-to-come-by housing units, so we’d like him to be as early in the freshman queue as possible.
Even though he’s planning a gap year, we need to put the housing in place just in case.
I think he’ll enjoy having his apps in and being off the hamster wheel while senior year plays out.
My daughter is not a contender for a competitive college.
But she has 2 months off. She’ll be starting her essay next week, and getting those apps in once the Common App opens on August 1st. She’ll submit the transcript requests to the college placement office the first week of school.
It simply makes no sense to either of us NOT to do this work during the summer. Why not get it done when there are fewer demands on your time? And then there’s the added bonus of an early response from the rolling admissions schools!
@odannyboySF Hmmm, we were told to have all apps in by mid-October, regardless of early/regular. Especially true for elites and scholarships, if you are not hooked. Theory being you have a better chance of standing out early in the process.
@bearcatfan My D wishes to take #4 in September, but I told her no. If she studied and only went up one, what’s going to change this time? She cannot study much in the fall, and she seems very unmotivated this summer!
We are a little unconventional I guess by CC standards. DS has no true “reach” schools for admission. Admission is not really a question for the schools he is applying to - Bama, Texas Tech, A&M, Ole Miss, UH. Our only variable is merit. He truly only has eyes for Bama since the day he set foot on the campus - back when it was on the bottom of his list and he was really only visiting to satisfy us. The campus tour changed that and he has talked of nothing since. Just need that scholarship to overcome the OOS tuition. :-SS I don’t see the need in adding any reach schools to his list. I truly think he will end up at Bama if the money works out or Tech.
He does need to get his ACT score up 1 point before we apply to A&M for engineering and honestly A&M is at the bottom of his list so I’m hoping to save the application fee. If only everyone would just stop bugging him to go to A&M. ~X(
So for right now our plan is to go ahead and apply to Bama when applications open next week. We’ve already sent transcripts and need to send the June ACT. He will receive a scholarship with that but not the one he wants. They will update the offer WHEN he gets the score he’s aiming for and we send it in. [-O< I think having the admission in hand at the start of the school year will be a boost for him. Even if its practically auto-admit. I am on the fence on making the housing deposit before we know he has the ACT score for the scholarship.
With the exception of A&M he will also go ahead and send in the other apps as time allows before school starts. His fall is very busy and the more we can get done ahead of time the better.
My D applied to one school in August and one in November. By December she had merit offers and knew where she was going. It was so nice not to have to wait and worry any longer.
My S will apply when transcripts are available and then schedule auditions for fall/early winter hopefully. We are looking at instate schools with his major and within about 2 hr radius.
Neither is looking for elite schools.
We are still mulling over the September ACT date (potential #4). We have no “reach” schools by CC standards, either, but nursing usually has higher/different admission standards than the rest of the majors.
A couple different things went into play with her higher score - less stress because of regular high school stuff, she actually studied a bit (ahem) and didn’t have proctoring issues like the state-administered test that was #2. I don’t know if she’d go up - she could go down, too, and that would be a kick in the teeth. She has it in her head that she is not a good standardized test-taker.
We have until the first couple days of August to register for it, and by then we will have visited and spoken with all the colleges on her list. It’s a question to ask, and the answer will be interesting.
How are you guys able to apply places now, with school being out? I’m wondering how to do that Common App when high school guidance counselors are not around to send transcripts, teachers are off and not writing letters, etc. I believe our office opens back up August 1, but they are also going to be busy with back to school scheduling and that kind of thing. Does the Common App contact the counselors and teachers via an email, or is it up to the students?
@bearcatfan We went ahead and requested transcripts be sent at the end of the school year. The school registrar told me they would be sent once grades were posted. I guess we will find out if that’s true.
Teachers who already have requests will write them over the summer. We know that the Common App,opens August 1, so we’ll upload them to the Common App from r each student then, as well as completing the checklist on the Common App for each student. In my school, we also upload each letter to each kids Naviance account and hand in a hard copy on letterhead to College Placement. I. Theory they were due before school ended last week. But teachers who were hit with a LOT of letters have until fall to finish them up. (Last year I wrote 45, the year before 42.)
@bearcatfan, has she tried the SAT? It is not quite as fast paced as the ACT I think, and no science section.
Fluid application lists…yeah. It’s getting real over here. I need @1822mom’s roller coaster avatar. 8-}
They will all make the most of wherever they end up, right?
They will bloom where they’re planted.