Research the colleges on the list from your college advisor and any other institutions that interest you. Use a college guide such as Fiske because it will give you some subjective information not available on websites or in a college’s written materials. Take notes as you go—colleges can begin to sound the same but of course they’re not. Note curriculum requirements, faculty-student ratios, retention rates, housing, strength of the department(s) that most interest you, location, social life, and any other criteria that are important to you—such as athletics, diversity, community service, etc. Log into your Naviance account regularly to research schools and to  update your electronic “list of colleges I’m thinking about.”  Save your notes about each college you research and/or visit; they will be helpful next fall when you need to answer supplemental questions to the Common Application about why you are a good match for a particular college.

As part of your research at each college, be certain to check out course requirements for particular programs in which you may be interested. For example, if you are planning to apply to any of the University of California campuses you must have a full-year fine arts course during high school. If you are applying for engineering, please check for specific math/science high school courses requirements. Fine arts or architecture programs may require portfolios; what format would they prefer? What’s the due date?

We submit transcripts and recommendations for all college applications electronically using Naviance. This means that it is ESSENTIAL that you keep your Naviance account up to date. Please follow the Naviance instructions, including completing the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act section on the Common Application after August 1. During the summer you will be able to keep a list of colleges you are considering in your Naviance account. After you return to school, you and your advisor will narrow this list down to the schools to which you wish to apply and then activate the list, a critical step in being certain that all of your forms get to the right college at the right time. In addition, we’ll be asking your teachers to submit their recommendations electronically to Naviance so that all of your materials reach colleges at the same time.

Select schools from each category of selectivity on your list that you are most interested in visiting. THIS IS CRUCIAL. Determine a visit plan with your parents, and go to those colleges’ websites to make appointments to visit and interview, if possible. (If there is an opportunity to call a college, please do it yourself!  Some colleges will track who does the calling, and they prefer to speak to the applicant, not the parent.) Most large colleges will not offer interviews, but many small liberal arts colleges will. Take advantage of the opportunity to interview. Not only is it a chance to learn more about the college, but it will also give you an opportunity to talk about your academic and extracurricular interests. These interviews are not difficult—most Deerfield students are poised, articulate, and comfortable speaking with adults. You will shine! And interviews demonstrate to the college your sincere interest, which at many colleges today is very important. It is especially important to express your serious interest at 50% and 70% schools. Each year we have several students who were likely to be admitted to schools on their 50% and 70% lists, but were not because they did not visit (especially a school nearby), attend a virtual information session, or did not seem interested in their interview.

Interviews are either evaluative or informational. In an evaluative interview, the interviewer will assess you as a candidate and write a report for your admission file. An informational interview is non-evaluative and primarily for you to learn more about the college, though you still want to be prepared and engaged. To prepare for an interview, research the college’s offerings in your academic area of interest and have a few questions. Be ready to speak about your academic and extracurricular interests. Practice a mock interview with a parent pretending to be the admission officer. After an interview, write a thank you note (hand-written or emailed), mentioning specific things you liked about the college.

You should prepare your arts supplement over the summer, whether you plan to submit theatrical or dance clips, a music recording, or shots of your artwork or photography. Check carefully for due dates, which sometimes differ from application deadlines, and instructions about the desired/required format for your submission.

The college admission process will test your organizational skills. To begin with, organize all the information you have received from colleges into folders, electronic or paper. As you become interested in a college, learn about its application process. Do they accept the Common Application? (Most do.) If so, do they have a supplement? Is the ACT or SAT optional or required? How many teacher recommendations, if any, do they require? Make a spreadsheet listing each college where you plan to apply and all of the relevant requirements and deadlines, or devise your own tracking system.

Your college advisor would like to hear from you during the summer. Please contact us at our Deerfield email addresses and provide us with an update of your visits and thinking about college. We’re eager to give you feedback on college essays as you begin to draft your statements.

We strongly recommend that you fill out the Common Application this summer.

Summer is the time to begin to tackle this project, especially drafting a few essays. Your objective is to tell them something about yourself that they do not know from the rest of your application. That means that you do not want to write a resumé or write about an abstract topic that is hard to grasp in 500 words. Instead, try to find a story about you that illustrates something you want colleges to know. Finding a good topic is the hardest part. Start brainstorming. Send your advisor a couple of your best ideas, and the two of you can decide which idea has the most potential. Write a first draft, and feel free to send it to your advisor for some feedback. We don’t want you to spend hours on it and have us tell you in the fall that we really don’t think it will work. By the time you return to Deerfield we hope that you will have a third or fourth draft that we can look over. You may also want to consult with one of your English teachers or your advisor. Try to limit the number of people who look at your essay; too many editors tend to muddy the waters. The College Board has some helpful information on writing an effective college essay.

Early Decision is a plan whereby a student who knows where they want to go and seems well qualified can apply, usually by November 1 or 15, and receives a decision in December. If admitted, the student must enroll and withdraw any other applications. Early Action is a plan by which a student applies early (usually a November deadline), and receives an admissions decision in December or January.  Early Action is non-binding, so  students may apply to other colleges if admitted EA, but an early offer can lead to a much shorter college list and a sense of relief at having one exciting offer before the spring.  There exist numerous, somewhat confusing variations on this theme including Single Choice Early Action, Restrictive Early Action, Priority Deadlines, Rolling Admissions, and Early Decision II. Our advice: check out any of the early plans with the specific institution involved and discuss the options with your college advisor. A student with a clear first choice and strong qualifications at the time of application may be rewarded with early peace of mind. But, changing student preferences and dramatic academic improvement can make a binding commitment to attend a particular institution both premature and uncomfortable. And many students get swept into the early application frenzy without realistically assessing their prospects for early admission. (Almost half of our early candidates are rejected or deferred to be considered with the Regular Decision applications; only a few of those deferred are later admitted to that college.) Students who wish to file an early application must feel that they are a strong candidate based on their freshman, sophomore, and junior year record and test scores. And remember that many colleges are now rejecting a larger number of early candidates rather than simply deferring them. Try not to get caught up in the early frenzy; give your own situation careful thought. Any student wishing to apply early must let the college office know by October 1, so that we have time to complete the paperwork in support of that application.