While the lion’s share of the work is done, there are still some important details to attend to.

First and foremost, remember that you are not “in” college until you walk through the doors on the first day of school. To make sure that accepted students remain focused on their academics and keep working to their best abilities, college acceptances are made with a contingency – if the student’s grades decline appreciably the school reserves the right to rescind their offer of admission.

Colleges also retain the right to rescind admissions offers to students who engage in serious misconduct, either in or out of school. So, while Senior Spring is certainly a hard-earned privilege and a special time for graduating students to savor their last few months of high school, students need to continue to be on their best behavior.

For those seniors who have been placed on wait-lists at their first choice school, this is not a time to be passive and take the “wait and see” approach. Wait-listed students need to be strong advocates for themselves. It is important to be in contact with the admissions office to let them know that their school remains your first pick. Begin by writing a letter explaining why this college is the best match for you. You may want to follow up by making a call to the admissions office to verbally state your case. Guidance counselors can also be solicited for help to make a phone call or write a letter on your behalf.

Finally, you should also send news of any positive changes in your status. If you were just elected captain of the volleyball team, made district chorus or landed an amazing internship, let the admissions office know! The fact that you are still taking on challenges and enjoying new successes will speak strongly of your work ethic.

If you have been accepted early and know what school you want to attend, it is ethically appropriate to call all the other schools to which you have applied to withdraw your application, even if they haven’t given you an answer yet. The sooner you let them know of your change in status, the sooner they will be able to give that acceptance to another student.

Finally, there are some administrative details that must be attended to. Be sure that your guidance office has the forms they need to send off your mid-year reports to colleges. For those applying for financial aid, it’s time to file taxes and complete FAFSA forms. Be sure that you know your college’s financial aid deadlines, and don’t miss them.

Congratulations, seniors on the completion of your college process. But remember, there are a few details left to attend to – besides waiting for the mail to arrive!

After months of listening to their pleading, I let my children open Facebook accounts with two provisos – that I had to be the first person that they “friended,” and that I had to have complete access to their accounts.

I will say that I am not particularly interested in the fact that a Black Sheep has wandered onto my son’s farm in Farmville or that my daughter is a fan of the “Dislike Button,” but I do care quite a bit about how they are portraying themselves to their hundreds of friends, and to the rest of the world, who might check out their Facebook pages.

I am particularly concerned about the role that social networking will play in their college admissions processes.

Relatively new territory with no rules to guide behavior or standards for protocol, colleges are just beginning to figure out how to use social networking tools such as MySpace and Facebook in their admissions decisions. With concerns about the ethical and legal implications of using this information to inform their admissions decisions, most schools tend to stay away.

Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions recently sent out surveys to 500 prestigious colleges and universities asking about their policies concerning the use of information gained from social networking sights in admissions decisions. Only 10 percent of the 320 schools that replied admitted to looking at applicants’ Facebook and MySpace pages. Of those schools, 38 percent said that it had a negative impact on their admissions decisions.

However, while most schools do not routinely check social network sights, there are a few things that might compel an admissions officer to take a closer look. An applicant who has been dismissed or suspended from school or who has engaged in any activity that throws their character into question is likely to draw a red flag. Students who are recruited athletes or candidates for scholarship money should be particularly careful. And even those who fall into none of these categories need to beware as colleges will act on anonymous tips, typically from a competing applicant.

While it may seem like common sense to keep personal, social information away from the eyes of college admissions officers, it is not uncommon for prospective applicants to “friend” their admissions counselor. While few colleges have an explicit “Do Not Friend” policy, most colleges follow this rule in an effort to keep the line between social and professional connections from blurring. Just as admissions officers don’t want information students post to adversely affect their admissions decisions, neither do they want applicants to have a window into their own personal lives.

If a student wants to communicate with an admissions officer, the best way is through e-mail, and addresses are easily found on college admissions Web pages. Although Web etiquette continues to evolve, e-mail should be treated as formal correspondence, addressed as such and containing information that is pertinent to the student’s application and professional in tone.

Reprinted with permission from Metrowest Daily News.

Reprinted with permission from MetroWest Daily News

Letters of recommendation are an important piece of your college application and can shed light on your potential as a student and as a member of their community that no other parts of your application can. By choosing your writers carefully, providing them with the information they need to write about you, and giving them plenty of time to craft their letters, you stand the best chance of receiving a personal, insightful and positive recommendation.

While your transcript provides valuable quantitative information about your academic strength, a thoughtfully written recommendation provides qualitative details that give the admissions reader a sense of your character and potential both inside and outside the classroom.

You should ask someone who has taught you in one of the five major courses and preferably in 11th grade, as that is when you are doing work that most closely resembles college level work. While it is tempting to ask the teacher from whom you earned the best grade, that teacher may not have much to say beyond how well you did.

A teacher who has worked with you in several contexts will be able to write about you from different perspectives and describe a broader range of your abilities. Perhaps they taught you for more than one class or worked with you on a project outside the classroom such as a school production or a community service trip. The better they know you, the stronger the recommendation will be.

Some schools ask for a personal recommendation. This is a tremendous opportunity to show the admissions office a side of yourself that they otherwise would not see. While it may be tempting to ask the uncle who coached your hockey team or an older sibling who already attends that college to write on your behalf, recommendations from relatives can raise a suspicious eyebrow. However, a minister, an employer, or a coach are all sources of excellent recommendations and can speak to your personal qualities, values and skills.

There are some things that you can do to help your writers craft a strong recommendation on your behalf. If you know which schools you are applying to, tell them why so they can tailor their recommendations appropriately. Also, provide a list of your accomplishments in their class or moments when you shone to trigger their memories. Some teachers ask students to fill out questionnaires, which you should do with thought and care. The more information you provide the more detailed and personal the recommendation will be.

While you may think that the recommendations are the one part of the application that doesn’t take much of your personal energy, in fact, there are important steps that you should take to get recommendations that will show you in your best light. So, before you pack away your bookbag for the summer, be sure to identify those people whom you would like to ask to write a recommendation on your behalf, and ask them. And don’t forget, when your recommendations have been sent off, be sure to write thank you notes to your writers to show your appreciation.

Reprinted with permission from Metrowest Daily News

It’s hard to believe that just a year has passed since they started their college search – so many campuses have been visited, so many interviews have been had, and so many essays have been written!

As the junior class embarks on their own college process, we offer these tips to get their college search off to a strong start:

• The process of finding and applying to the colleges that are the best fits for you takes a considerable amount of time, thought and energy. In the months ahead, your ideas about the “right” college will evolve, your selection criteria will change, and what you most value in your college experience will shift. Give yourself the time and space to consider what is best for you.
• Commit yourself to working on your college search as if it were an additional class. Set aside time each week for your “college process homework.”
• Finding the right college involves many steps and even more details. To keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed, set up organizational systems early. Designate a place to store all your college materials. Set up folders in your e-mail account specifically for college-related correspondence. Create file folders to store hard copies of materials and ask for help from a parent or a friend if organization does not come easily or naturally to you. There is so much to do, you won’t want to waste time looking for materials.
• Go into this process with an open mind. Don’t put too much weight on your preconceptions about a particular college or rely too much on what your peers tell you. Your unique impressions are what matter most.
• Understand that this year-long process is about more than just “getting in.” It’s a process of self-discovery, values clarification and taking responsibility for yourself. Be sure that you are at the center of the process, not your parents, or you will deny yourself the opportunity to learn these valuable lessons.
• For most, going away to college marks the beginning of your real independence from your family. Just as leaving home is a big step in your life, so too is it for your parents. Understand that they are going through their own version of the college process and will need time to process just as you will.

Although the road ahead is a long one, getting off to a strong start can set the tone for a successful and rewarding college search experience. Get organized, set aside time to work on your college process, and take advantage of the opportunities to show your emerging independence and self-sufficiency that this process allows and then you, too, will be buzzing with college excitement next April.

Reprinted with permission from Metrowest Daily News