College Admissions: More College Application Follow-Up Suggestions

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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Jodi Walder, GoLocalPDX College Admissions Expert

If you are waiting until March to hear back from some of your top-choice schools, it can seem like a very long haul. Even though your application has been submitted, there are still positive actions you can take to stay top-of-mind and let the school know they are one of your top choices.

If you were deferred early decision or early action to the regular decision pool, hopefully you have sent your rep an email expressing your disappointment but noting that you are not discouraged and still want to attend. If he or she provided any reasons for the deferral and suggested what you might do to strengthen your application, be sure to actually follow the suggestions!

Whether you are deferred or waiting for a regular decision answer, in January or February it may be appropriate to follow up with schools that have not yet given you an admission decision. 

I cannot tell you exactly which schools want to hear from you and which don’t. Nearly every college would like your first semester senior year transcripts sent from your high school as soon as they are available. Beyond that, most small and medium private schools are open to receiving updates from you if they contain information of value. Most large state schools would prefer not to get additional information because they have too many applications to read and whatever you send creates extra work. Of course, these are generalizations, and you need to use your best judgment to decide which schools you want to send “love letters” to.

If you choose to do email follow-up, here is what a love letter should contain:

1. Any significant awards or achievements that happened since you submitted your application

2. A recap of your first semester grades

3. “If I were at your college this week, I would be taking advantage of the following opportunities…” (use the school calendar to figure out what is going on that you would enjoy)

4. Your full name and Common App or College ID # in the header

5. A simple statement about your desire to be at that school next fall.

Here’s an example of what a follow-up email might contain:

Dear George Washington University Admissions Office,

This past semester, I have been able to maintain all As except for my 88% in AP Calculus. It’s the lowest grade I have received in high school, yet I feel like I worked the hardest for it. I have the sense that college will be more like that than high school, and I welcome the challenge. 

It's been an exciting time since I submitted my application. I won 1st place in Public Forum Debate and 1st Place in Oratory at the Linfield College Forensics tournament.  I was crowned “Mr. Glencoe” for fundraising $2,400 for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and placing highest in the talent competition. (My group performed Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” rap.) Next week, I will be participating in the National League of Cities Conference in Washington, D.C. as a youth representative. I look forward to touring the Capitol, While House, and Smithsonian. 

This week at GW, there are so many events that I would attend if I lived closer! Last Thursday, I would have rushed to the Jack Morton Auditorium to be a part of the town hall gun control discussion with Anderson Cooper. I don’t pretend to have all of the answers, but to participate would enlighten me and hopefully give me a model for how to run future town halls of my own. On Saturday, I would take a break from studying for my Intro to International Affairs class and head to the Smith Center (only a 15-minute bus ride from the Vern) to watch the Colonials beat the Butler Bulldogs in basketball. As someone fascinated by comparative politics, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to attend the Comparative Politics Workshop with Todd Eisensdat and Jennifer Yelle on Saturday, February 15th. Wishing I was there already...

Sincerely,

John Doe

Common App ID# XXXXXXX 

Jodi Walder-Biesanz is the founder of Portland, Oregon-based College Admission Coach LLC, which helps students identify and gain admission to right-fit schools where they will thrive academically and personally. Contact her at [email protected].

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