Date	Action
NOW	The Common Application essay prompts are available. Begin to craft your “personal statement” essay idea NOW if you haven’t yet started. You’ll need this essay for various colleges.
August 1	Common Application officially opens for fall 2020 admission – but start it NOW – the system will “roll-over” your basic information and your college list on August 1.
August/September	Begin submitting rolling admission applications. The earlier you submit, generally speaking, the better your chances for admission and the earlier you’ll receive an admission decision. Many state universities in Florida (e.g. UCF, FAU) offer rolling admission.
Oct 1	Both of the financial aid applications − CSS Profile and the FAFSA − open on October 1. We urge parents to complete these in the weeks immediately following October 1.
Oct 15	The earliest admission deadline allowed by NACAC: ·       UVA – Early Decision ·       GA Tech – Early Action And there are likely to be others with this early date.
Nov 1 & Nov 15	These are the most popular deadlines for Early Action and Early Decision. Applying EA or ED tends to improve your admission chances – so take advantage of EA and ED when you can.
Dec 15	The date by which we want all applications submitted so we can all enjoy the holiday break!
May 1	National Decision Day – the deadline for giving a non-refundable deposit to the college you’ve decided to attend.

 

Topics: College Application, College Planning

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If you don’t already appreciate how incredibly stressful applying to colleges can be — and how that stress has serious implications — don’t take our word for it. Here’s a student, Gabriela Nadeau, writing about her feelings in a November 2017 article titled College Applications: I’m Applying to College and I’m Stressed AF [“AF” is a texting acronym for “As F_ _ _”] on teenvogue.com (with all of the emphasis via bold font added):

Topics: College Application, College Counseling, College Planning, Anxiety

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By the start of their second semester, most high school juniors have begun creating and honing a prospective college list, and scheduling college visits. What most don’t realize is that it’s also the ideal moment to begin working on college applications, especially the often-dreaded college application essay (commonly known as the personal statement). Where to get started? What’s the perfect topic? What are college admission readers looking for? These and other student questions oftentimes result in panic and procrastination: I’ll worry about it this summer! Then suddenly, it’s September….

Topics: Essays, College Application, Application Essays, Person Statement

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Last August 13^th, we posted a blog titled “Forget the Worm: The Early Bird Gets Admitted.” That’s why we’ve chosen our title here (“The Past as Prologue”), because what has already happened should dictate our current actions. Here’s the connection: In that blog, we detailed a long-term trend – what has been happening – favoring those who apply to colleges via Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA) over those who apply Regular Decision (RD). That trend has continued, and because ED and EA benefits both colleges and students in unique ways, there’s every reason to believe that it will continue – at an increasing pace – for the foreseeable future.

Topics: College Admission, College Application, College Counseling, College Planning, Early Decision, Early Action

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Good grades and high standardized test scores help get your application into the room where the admissions committee will make its final decision – and for many years they’ve been the top two criteria for evaluating applicants. As we pointed out in a blog we published in January 2013,

Topics: Common Application, College Application, Coalition App, Common App

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One thing that you absolutely DO NOT want to do is confuse college admissions officers by presenting contradictory – or inconsistent, and, thus, possibly contradictory – information about yourself in your college applications. And there are multiple opportunities for mistakes in most college applications.

Topics: College Admission, College Application, College Counseling, Activity Resume, Resume

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Topics: College Application, Coalition App, College Counseling, College Planning, Application Essays, Common App, Universal App

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Topics: Common Application, College Application, Coalition App, UF, Application Essays, FSU, UCF, Person Statement

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Part II: Square Pegs

In Part I, Round Holes, we considered how you should look at colleges – the criteria to bring to your search for happiness. In this part, we’ll ask you to get in touch with your gut feelings.

Topics: College Application, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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Part I: The Round Holes

“I thought the ‘best’ college for me was the most selective - I was wrong”

Topics: College Application, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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