What To Do While You Are Waiting - Advice for High School Seniors

The months of November through January were busy months for seniors as they worked to complete college applications, meet deadlines, and balance the demands of their schoolwork. Now they find themselves waiting.  Their applications are in the hands of college admissions officers who will read through their essays, activities, supporting documents and decisions will be announced in March or April. During this waiting period, seniors use your time wisely and do the following:

• Complete your financial aid applications (FAFSA, CSS Profile, campus specific) – March 2nd is a major date to get applications completed and submit supporting tax filing documents.

• Apply for scholarships.  Check with your guidance office for local scholarships for which you can apply.  Conduct online scholarship searches using Fastweb and other scholarship search websites.

• Continue to work on your grades.  No time is a good time to develop senioritis.  Colleges do see your last semester's grades, and if they have fallen off, colleges can rescind their acceptance offer.

• Think positive thoughts – you will be accepted to several colleges.  Prepare to revisit schools in April.  When is a good time to revisit colleges that does not interfere with team sports, theater productions, or such?  Do your colleges offer Re-visit days for accepted students?  This information can be found on college websites.

• What are your plans for the summer?  If you need to work and set aside money for college, now is the time to secure summer employment.  If you wait until June, summer jobs will be filled, and you will find yourself baby sitting your little sister or brother.