Last-Minute College Application Tips
Have you finished your college applications and are ready to submit them? These are some last-minute tips to help you polish your applications during the final revision process.
Why do you need a final revision?
Your college applications look done, so you might think that this process is unnecessary. However, everyone needs to do a final revision because of two reasons. First, you need to ensure that there are no missed opportunities to appeal to admissions officers. In other words, there is always room for improvement! Second, you need to eliminate any fatal mistakes in your applications. It sounds unlikely, but it’s true — a lot of students miss obvious but fatal mistakes. You need to check your applications one last time to make sure your chances of being accepted aren’t compromised.
Is there a missed opportunity?
- Material overlapping in the personal statement and supplemental essay
Read through your personal statement and supplemental essay, with the focus of discerning if anything you’ve written is repetitive. Overlapping material is a prime example of a missed opportunity. You need to utilize the word count you’ve been given as best as you can. Using the same anecdotes or repeating what you said is throwing away the opportunity to appeal even more to admissions officers.
So, read through the essays and mark all the spots where anything overlapped. When modifying the sentences, think about what more you want to convey to admissions officers. Is there another aspect of yourself that is fitting to the university’s motto or vision? Or, are there more examples that can underpin what you’ve said about yourself? Use this final revision process to replace redundant materials with fresh ones!
2. Evaluating your essay based on what you want to convey
Next, we strongly recommend you evaluate your essay based on the qualities you want to convey to admissions officers. You need to revise your applications to ensure they reflect specific interests and characteristics. That way, admissions officers will be able to immediately understand what kind of student you are, and what you will bring to the study body.
Stage 1: What are the interests and qualities you want to convey?
Before you start this process, you need to ask yourself this question. What are the qualities about yourself that you want to convey to admissions officers? What are the values you think you and the college share? What specific interests or qualities did you showcase through activities you pursued in high school? You probably already asked yourself these questions during the brainstorming stage. So, read through what you’ve written in the planning stage, and find the specific points you wanted to convey.
Stage 2: Evaluating your essay
Now’s the time for the actual evaluation process. While reading through the entire college application, ask yourself these questions: “Which of my qualities/interests can be discerned from my applications?” “Which of my qualities/interests should be elaborated on further?” “Which of my qualities/interests in the planning stage were not incorporated in the applications?” Mark all the places where you feel like you can revise to convey yourself even better. Or, if you felt like certain points were missing, modify what you wrote.
Stage 3: Ask someone for feedback!
In the final stage, find someone you trust to give feedback about your applications. Print out your college applications and ask the person the questions you asked yourself in the previous stage: “Which of my qualities/interests can be discerned from my applications?” “Which of my qualities/interests should be elaborated on further?” “Which of my qualities/interests in the planning stage were not incorporated in the applications?”
3. Reading through the essay and activities description
Last but not least, read through the essay and activities description one last time. Are there any points you feel like you can modify to convey yourself even better? Use this time to revise what you wrote to make them aligned with what you want to portray. For example, if you wanted to convey that you are passionate about the major you’re applying to, read through the essay you wrote, picking apart sentences and paragraphs to make this point stand out.
Eliminating final mistakes in applications
1. Revising details related to colleges
Fatal mistakes are often related to details related to colleges. They will significantly decrease the possibility of being accepted because they will give admissions officers the impression that you’re not serious about your applications. So, if there is a “why us” essay, read it again with these two questions in your mind. Is the name of the college correct? Did you get details such as visions or curriculums of colleges mixed up in applications? These questions are all the more important in the final revision process so you won’t blow your chances.
2. Checking test scores & GPAs
You also need to check the scores you entered in your applications. Make sure you enter the best scores you’ve received, especially if they are SAT scores. If there are any additional test scores you reported to colleges, you need to explain this fact as well so they know what’s coming! You should also check that you have entered the classes you took and the grades you received correctly. Grab a school transcript, and look through all the information again.
3. Look over the hours you listed in the activities section
Check the hours you listed in the activities section. This is especially important if the time you listed in the activity section seems like a bit of a stretch. So, calculate the time again! If you need a refresher on how to do so, here’s the answer: divide the total number of hours you invested in an activity with the number of weeks you spent doing the activity.
4. Check for grammar and spelling mistakes
Finally, check to see if there are any grammar and spelling mistakes. You can copy-paste the entire application to Grammarly(www.grammarly.com) for this process. You can also print the application and read it on paper to mark any mistakes you might have missed. Lastly, record yourself reading the applications out loud to check the overall flow of the essays.
