By Julie Ekkers
October is the month many high school seniors submit their first applications. Students and their parents often ask how they ensure everything–applications, essays, transcripts, recommendations, ACT or SAT scores–arrives at the same time.
The answer is: you don’t! Application materials can–and do–arrive at college admission offices at different times. Whatever arrives first just triggers the creation of a student’s applicant file. It doesn’t matter in what order those application materials arrive, so long as they all do.
Once a student submits an application to a college, that college will usually create an applicant portal and email a student instructions for accessing it. This portal where they can check their application’s status and confirm the arrival of other required materials from their high school or the ACT or College Board. And, they should check it until all materials have arrived and their application is complete–not just received.
The submission of each application is the culmination of a lot of work. Celebrate each one! And remember: it doesn’t matter in what order application materials arrive, so long as they all do.