October Action Items & Important Info Contact your counselor with questions after reviewing the information below. STUDENT ACTION ITEMS - By October 14: Add schools with early deadlines to your “Applying” list in SCOIR. This includes colleges with deadlines of December 1 or earlier, including UW and the UCs/Cal Poly, and schools with December 1 priority deadlines such as Boston University, Claremont McKenna, and Whitman. Be sure to select the correct application plan in SCOIR (Early, Regular, etc.).
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Attend college visits. Register in SCOIR. Visits are important opportunities to demonstrate interest and learn about colleges. If you can’t attend, cancel your registration. If the college takes demonstrated interest into account, email the representative using this email template.
- Reference the application videos and guide for the Common Application, UW, and the UCs (available mid month) on the Resources Page. Email your counselor with questions after you’ve referenced these guides.
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The Additional Information section is a completely optional (truly!) part of the application. If you have extenuating circumstances or helpful context, consider using this guide to write for the Additional Information section.
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Enable your counselor to preview your Common Application, if you haven’t yet done so. Instructions are available in the Part 4 video on the Resources Page; jump to the 7:00 mark in this video.
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Write supplemental essays using these guidelines. While “rough” drafts are okay, sloppy drafts are not. Review your essay for grammar, spelling, and proper formatting beforehand.
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Read the College Counseling Office’s Policies on Acceptable & Unacceptable Uses of AI in your college applications. All students are expected to abide by these policies.
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Set aside time to work on applications. The upcoming three-day weekends (October 10-12 and October 17 - 19) and the Thanksgiving break are ideal times to make progress.
PARENT/GUARDIAN ACTION ITEMS -
Register for and attend the October 7 workshop on Succeeding with your Financial Aid Application.
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Begin financial aid applications for early schools (if applicable). For Early Decision and Early Action, most financial aid deadlines match admissions deadlines. Follow each college’s instructions carefully, review our Resources Page for extensive resources from College Money Method. If helpful, attend one of the following with College Money Method:
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Review the College Counseling Policies & Expectations, which were shared with students earlier this year.
- Set healthy boundaries:
- At home about how often you’re discussing the college process (it should be discussed as a family, but not all the time).
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With friends and relatives around your student’s process – that where they’re applying, their test scores, grades, etc., are private information.
- Peruse the list of October college visits. Because parents/guardians can’t access this information in SCOIR, we are sharing it here.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION - Final College Lists are Due December 1. While you're working on early applications, don't forget to trim your list, too. Your college counselor is available to help! (Instructions about how to submit your final college list will be given in the next Action Items email.)
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Submitting Applications. The office strongly recommends that students submit applications at least 24 hours in advance of the deadline. Remember each deadline may be in the time zone in which the college is located.
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Remember that Senior Year Matters. If you’re applying early anywhere, colleges often request the mid-semester grades from our office. If those grades are requested – and there is no way to know who will ask for them – they are important. In Regular Decision, first semester grades are very important. In June, your final grades are reviewed by the college at which you enroll - if there is a drop in grades, you risk losing your space. Most importantly, the skills you build this year will make you better prepared for college. Every year, alumni who suffered from “senioritis” say they wish they had remained focused in senior year because they would have had a stronger foundation for their college studies.
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Scholarships: Sign-up for a free Going Merry account to begin searching for scholarships. While there are many other scholarship sites (Visit the Resources Page FAQs for more), Going Merry allows students to sort by deadline, and is simple and user-friendly.
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Teacher Recommendations. The college counseling office works with your teachers to submit recommendations. There is nothing you need to do to make this happen. Some students have inquired about sending their teachers email reminders. Please do not! Your teachers know this is a priority, and in prior years, have found such reminders irksome and unnecessary. Recommendations will be uploaded into SCOIR throughout October and will be sent by colleges’ deadlines, including any November 1 deadlines. Whether a teacher submits their recommendation tomorrow or in late October is insignificant.
- MIT. If you’re applying to MIT, you’re required to enter your classes and grades in the application - in addition to the college office sending your transcript. Enter your courses and their levels (i.e., honors, advanced) exactly as they appear on your transcript. From your official transcript and school profile, colleges will understand the rigor of all Lakeside classes, even those that aren’t labeled as “honors” or “advanced.”
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University of Washington. Use this Lakeside-specific application guide. Two important steps:
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When completing their college-specific questions, you’re required to respond to an essay prompt that sounds remarkably similar to the main Common App essay. Paste your Common App essay into this field. UW does not download the essay from the “Common App tab” and will only see the essay you paste here.
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UW is the only school where you should enter your GPA. You can use your sixth semester GPA in SCOIR. After submitting the UW application, remember to remove your GPA from the Common App (if you don’t enter your GPA, UW will request additional info from you in mid-winter). The guide provides details on how to report and remove your GPA within the Common Application.
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Local Performing & Visual Arts College Fair. If you’re considering applying to performing or visual arts programs, the National Association for College Admissions Counseling is hosting a Seattle-area college fair on October 9 where you can learn more about individual colleges and even receive preliminary feedback on portfolios and auditions. Learn more and sign-up here.
UPCOMING DATES AND DEADLINES October 4 or October 19: Live walk through of the CSS Profile with College Money Method
October 5 or October 18: Live walk through of the FAFSA with College Money Method October 7: Webinar, Succeeding on your Financial Aid Applications October 10: School-Day SAT (pre-registration was required)
October 14: Final date to add all schools with deadlines of December 2 or sooner to your SCOIR “Applying” list; School-Day ACT (pre-registration was required) November 1: Early Decision and Early Action deadline for many colleges November 24 - 28: Thanksgiving Break; College Office is closed December 1: Final college lists due (instructions forthcoming). |
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