College Application Process
Because of the multiple tasks that are involved in this process we have developed a specific set of procedures that your son/daughter will need to follow:
1. Pick-up a College Application Checklist/Records Release Form. This must be completed for every application that is sent. (It requires a parent/guardian signature if the student is not 18.)
2. Complete a Senior Brag Sheet and Activity Resume. The Brag Sheet and an Activity Resume sample may be picked up in the Guidance Office.
3. Hand out two in-house teacher recommendation forms to teachers (pick up in the guidance office). It is preferred that students ask teachers for recommendations in the spring of their junior year. In any case, students should give teachers a minimum of one month. Six weeks is preferable. Each student must prepare an Activity Resume to attach to each recommendation given to teachers. Instructions for preparing the Activity Resume and an example are available in the Guidance Office.
4. Turn in the completed College Application Checklist/Records Release Form, Senior Brag Sheet, and Activity Resume to Guidance. (If you are applying solely to a community college, check with your guidance counselor regarding your application requirements. Some items are not necessary such as recommendations and the Senior Brag Sheet.) Each checklist should be accompanied by a 8 x 12 envelope that is addressed to the college and stamped with four 41 cent stamps. Please do not put a return address on the envelope.
5. Set-up a meeting with the guidance counselor at least twelve (12) full school days before the application deadline. (It is the student's responsibility to confirm that all recommendations have been turned into Guidance before the meeting with the counselor.)
6. Please give the counselor and secretary at least twelve (12) full school days to process recommendations, transcripts and all required documents.
Note: students will be responsible for mailing their college application, fees, essays, and resume′to each college.
What to do if a College Tells You Your
Application is Incomplete......
"Are you sure you sent my transcript and recommendations?"
Here at Hampshire Regional High School we know how nerve-wracking it can be to receive a postcard that says a college is still missing your materials, or to check the status of your application online and see that documents are missing. Rest assured we really did send everything by the deadline! Also know that deadlines, unless stated otherwise, mean that materials must be postmarked by the deadline date, not received by that date.
It might help to know that colleges face a MOUNTAIN of admissions mail every day - mail that requires very systematic and careful handling. As a result, there will be a very reasonable delay between the moment your application arrives at the admissions office and the time it is processed and placed into your file. Let's hear from the experts on this:
From a large public university: "I wish I had a photo that I could send you of thousands of pieces of mail sitting in the mail bins waiting to be processed. Maybe this bit of information will help: we employ an "army" of students to help us process the mail. We receive so much mail that all some students do is simply slit open envelopes, other students will date stamp the materials, and another student places the information in the proper bin (Part I - Early Decision, Part I - Regular Decision, High School Transcript - Early Decision, etc.) From the bins, our processing staff enters the information into the computer. We estimated that we received over 100,000 pieces of information for our freshman applicants alone last year (each application requires Part I & Part II, or the Common Application and our Supplement, the Secondary School Report, the HS transcript, test scores, and at least one letter of recommendation). Try to have your students visualize 100,000 of anything, and that may help!"
From a mid-sized private university: "We track mail received per day by application type. Last year in November (alone), we received 900 freshmen apps. It took us four days to get this mail open, let alone counted, stamped with the date and sorted. While we have pushed for a system overhaul, this will still happen because applicants will still wait until the last minute to apply."
From a large public university: "This morning the U.S. mail delivered 30 tubs full of applications, counselor statements, and teacher recommendations to our office; two staff members spent all day just opening the envelopes, another fifteen concentrated on logging everything in, and yet our mail room still looks as though a paper cyclone went through it."
From a private college: "Typically we receive more than half of our applications right at the deadline. They are processed in the order in which they arrive, and it takes us about three weeks to get all of the applications processed and in files. We do enter quite a bit of data on each applicant into our student database, so for most of our data entry people it is physically impossible to process more than a certain number of applications in one day."
From a large public university: "We never receive a complete application all in one envelope since we require that ACT/SAT scores be sent to us directly from the testing agency. There always are sorting and matching processes that must take place daily since we receive hundreds (sometimes thousands) of applications, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc. each and every business day!"
In other words: if you get a note from a college saying that a piece of your application is missing, DON'T PANIC. In all likelihood, it is at the office and simply hasn't been entered into the system yet. The first thing you should do is check with us in the guidance office about the date on which the material was sent, and give the college a few days to sort the mail. Secondly, call the admissions office to ask them to physically check your file. In many admissions offices, the materials are "checked off" in a computer database and then the hard copies are filed. Sometimes the hard copies get filed and didn't get checked off the computer database. Usually, time takes care of the problem beautifully - but if it doesn't, please let us know how we can help.
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