The following piece was written by Linda Abraham. Linda has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is the President and Founder of Accepted.com.
You think you’re ready to submit your college application? WAIT – don’t do it! Or at least, not yet. Before you hit “Submit,” make sure you follow these important steps:
1. Clean up your social media act
Many adcom will not just review your application, but will spend some time Googling you as well, checking your profiles on social media sites and making sure that they like what they see. Please be responsible and take down anything that makes you look bad – you know what I’m talking about. Note: Having a social media presence isn’t a bad thing; in fact, clean, well-written, and well-maintained social profiles can show the adcom that you’re tech savvy, creative, and “with it.”
2. Check that your application creates a holistic picture of you
Your resume, recommendations, transcript, and essays should all work together to create a holistic picture of your qualifications, skills, experience, interests, and goals. You are a multi-faceted person with lots to offer – don’t make the mistake of having overlapping, repetitious info in your application. Instead, take advantage of the space you have to present as many, varied aspects of who you are as possible.
3. Make sure that you’ve expressed why you’re a good candidate for this program
You may be the Einstein of our generation, but if you haven’t expressed your unique fit with your target program, then you could still hit the chopping block, despite your blinding brilliance.
4. Proofread everything
Spend a significant amount of time editing your essays and resume, as well as the boxes and forms on the application itself. A sloppy application shows that you’re a sloppy person.
5. Follow up with your recommenders
Your application may be complete on your end, but if your recommenders have lost your recommendation in the mountain of papers on their desks, then you may as well consider yourself doomed. Follow up with each and every one of your recommenders to make sure that your recommendation has been submitted by the deadline.
Visit Accepted.com or find them on Facebook and Twitter.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.
