Distinctive

By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D.

Just before November 1st is that time of year when anxiety runs high and you start imagining all of the things that could go wrong. Let me reassure you that almost all of your worries are unfounded.

Here are the 5 most common things that seniors and their parents worry about, but really shouldn’t.

1. Someone hasn’t yet written a letter of recommendation – While this can drive you crazy, don’t let it. Your teachers and counselors have so many things on their plate, so it does take them a while to get to it and all of the other students’ letters that have been requested. But don’t let it bother you, and don’t think it will sink your application if the letter is late! Colleges know that this is something that you do not have 100% control over, so they will not penalize you for someone else’s mistake. If you notice that a teacher or a counselor has missed a deadline, politely remind her about the urgency, so that she’ll prioritize getting her letter to your schools.

2. You realize you forgot to submit an important part of your application – Maybe you forgot to upload your résumé or you left out your research abstract in the Additional Information section. That’s okay. Just contact the admissions office as soon as you realize your omission and get the material to them in the way that they specify.

3. You accidentally submit your application before finishing it – This can happen when there is no application fee to process. If this happens to you, all you have to do is contact the admissions office and let them know. Then ask how they would like for you to fix the matter. It is really that simple.

4. You get an email from an admissions office saying something is missing from your application – This could be your test scores, a counselor form, an Early Decision Agreement, a letter of recommendation or your transcript. It generally takes admissions offices 2-4 weeks to compile everyone’s applications after a deadline. At that point, they’ll realize what you are missing and they will contact you to give you the opportunity to get them the information (but don’t let this exculpate you from not having arranged for everything to be sent on time).

5. You find a typo – Even with several sets of eyes on an application, a typo may slip through. If you find one down the road when re-reading through your applications, it is fine. Do not let a typo get you down. It won’t negatively impact an admissions decision. In fact, some people believe that it signals that the work is all yours and no adults were involved in helping you, and this is something that admissions offices like!

I hope this helps you put the process a little bit more in perspective. It may be somewhat stressful getting all of the work done, but rest assured that most situations are rarely as bad you think.