Boo! It is the scariest day of all . . .

 . . . . November 1!

We've talked all year, and I'll say it again, the glitches with the Common App are going to cause stress. But do your best not to be scared. The vast majority of schools have been extremely flexible and have shared they too are being affected by the issues so students will not be held responsible for the issues that are out of their control.

So, where should you be doing right now?

1) If you are applying to CUNY or SUNY those apps should be either already submitted or well on their way to being submitted in the next 2-3 weeks. Same really goes for public schools that are out of state. Why wait?

2) If you are applying to other schools with early action or early decision deadlines, those should also already be submitted or well on their way to being submitted.

3) If you have schools that require a CSS profile in November, that is of the utmost importance. That site is not being affected by glitches and to my knowledge those deadlines remain firm. You must check the individual college's financial aid website to see if they have a CSS deadline this fall. If you don't see a deadline (or if you don't see the CSS mentioned at all) then it is not required. I don't have the list of colleges that require this form memorize. You shouldn't either because it is published right there at your fingertips and you can look it up.

4) Teacher letters are my fun issue to worry about. Not yours. As long as your Naviance account has the accurate name of the college and round of admission listed you do not need to do anything else.

5) Thank you to the vast majority of you that have heeded my warning about the Common App letter of rec limits. But, some of you are taking it too far and opting to send zero letters schools that will allow 1 or 2. You are welcome to use your judgement, but if you have letters that are allowed to be sent go ahead and send them. The only thing to be careful of is to not exceed the maximum.

6) I continue to be shocked at the alarming number of seniors that have not been on college visits. It is November of your senior year and you are about to invest between $5,000 and $50,000+ in a college experience. You don't have time to go take a tour on a Saturday? Sorry, I don't buy it. Get out there and make tour reservations. Next Tuesday you don't have school, would be a smart time to visit a school if you need to.

7) Go Red Sox!

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Nov 1 is knocking on our door!

 The first big wave of deadlines is upon us, as November 1 is next Friday! But now is not the time to stress - remember, every single part of this process has detailed instructions available so nothing should leave you guessing. Have questions about Financial Aid? That is what Financial Aid portions of college websites are for. Common App giving you trouble? Check the Known Issues page to learn if your problem is already in the queue to be fixed. Here are some tips for this final week of October - let Halloween be the scariest part of the season, not college apps!

1) I've already sent this out to every senior and senior parent/guardian, but I'll remind you again. If you are applying EA or ED somewhere, be sure to check their Financial Aid instructions (on their school specific website) to see if a CSS Profile is due. The CSS Profile (more info here) is a Financial Aid packaging tool used by some schools and it is often due in November if you are an EA/ED applicant. If you want to be considered for Financial Aid, get this completed on time! Not every school asks for the CSS profile, so you'll need to double check for yourself to see if it is needed. You now start to see why I don't recommend applying to more than 10 schools . . . .

2) Deadlines are guidelines for the latest something can be completed, but they shouldn't be a sign to you that you need to wait that long to get something done. Even if you are applying Regular Decision with a January deadline, you should absolutely be polishing your essay now. With that said, some schools are being flexible with their deadlines due to the Common App shenanigans. This is a happy benefit of the new launch, not something to rely on or use as a crutch.

3) If a student is applying Early Decision via the Common App, the parent/guardian must digitally 'sign' their ED agreement. The place to do this is sent to you via email, but unfortunately the Common App does not have the link the is embedded in the email identified as a hyperlink. Don't let this fool you, use your cursor to find the hidden link so you can complete the online signature. That will then allow me to complete the counselor portion on time.

4) Deadlines are for students at 99.9% of colleges. I cannot force your teachers to get their letters done earlier than they are due. Heck, I can't even force them to get their letters done when they are late! Don't let yourself get stressed about the parts of this process you can't control. Be happy with your essay. Triple check your Common App. Verify that you spelled things correctly and that you are working hard in your senior classes. Don't stress over the school documents. I get to do that ;) Just be sure your Naviance account is up to date and the correct rounds of admission are listed.

5) Many of you re-tested for the October SAT. You are getting your scores back this week. You should order your score reports immediately when they are available. It can take weeks for the score to get to the college, they are prepared for that, but you should not let any days go to waste. You can (and should) also go ahead and send your scores to any school where you know they eventually need to go, even if you haven't applied yet. Do not be tempted to rush your scores. This is a con by the Common App to squeeze even more money out of you. Just send them regular. Rushing them costs more and just means they will arrive on paper and sit in a mail room until a human opens them. Sending them regular, they will be transmitted electronically.

6) The Common App essay can be edited twice after it is submitted for future schools that you submit to, but I don't recommend that you submit a draft that you aren't happy with. I get the sense, based on the volume of questions, that some of you are planning to just get something down on paper for your EA schools and then keep revising your essay for the schools you are applying to Regular. Why are you doing this?? Use time management to plan ahead and get things ready for all schools. Yes, if you find an error and can correct it for subsequent applications, be my guest and fix it. But to send a "rougher draft" to some EA schools and a "final draft" to other RD schools is not encouraged. I get it, you can keep refining and refining for weeks, but write your essay, edit it, and call it a day. There are always supplemental essays to obsess over. . . . .

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Thanks SUNY Maritime!

Yesterday I attended the SUNY OpInform Counselor Workshop at SUNY Maritime, located in Throggs Neck. What a total hidden gem of a campus! Despite being on the tip of the Bronx, I felt like I was a world away. The small campus is home to about 1,800 students who are mainly interested in working on ships. As a result, about 90% are part of the regimen that are hoping to earn their license to work on board a boat. This means that those 90% dress in uniform (contrary to popular believe, these are NOT military uniforms) and the vibe on campus is really unique.  I should add, there are ROTC options on campus and about 10% of the students plan to join the military (typically as part of the Coast Guard, Navy, or Marines), but it is a much smaller population than one might assume. SUNY Maritime is an amazing example of a true niche college located right here in the 5 boroughs. For students with a passion for the water, this is an amazing school for science, technology, and engineering. There is also a job placement rate of over 90% (very few maritime colleges exist, so they do a great job of filling need in the job market) and it seems like a place that is great for students that are hands on learners. They have their own ship docked right on campus and students were buzzing about all day. The campus is also home to Fort Schulyer, a US fort that predates the Civil War. The picture above is from the campus library that is inside the fort. It was stunning.Word of warning, about 86% of the students here are male. That is also probably a pretty accurate mirror of the percent of people in the maritime industry that are male, but it is certainly something to keep in mind for both the pros and cons that come along with it.

In terms of the meeting, I went to two sessions - one about college readiness and one about honors programs at the SUNY schools. The college readiness session mentioned something that I think ElRo does a good job, which is making the senior year the most challenging year. This helps to keep momentum and give students the bridge they need to be successful in college. For the second session, I think I probably could do a better job of reminding students and families about the honors opportunities at SUNY schools. I'm going be more conscious of this going forward. The SUNY honors programs have published stats that can be found here. They also made the great point that the bulk of SUNY honors programs exist at 2-year colleges. I know most ElRo students are looking at 4 year degrees, but starting at an honors program at a 2 year school isn't a bad option for students that would be more successful starting somewhere first and then applying to transfer to their dream school later.

Two more things of note: SUNY is ranked 4th in the nation for public school system 4 year completion rate - meaning students at SUNY are more likely to graduate and graduate in 4 years than schools in 45 other states. Not too shabby. Also, younger students, keep your eye on www.suny.edu - it is getting a face lift in the spring.