One mistake commonly made by students with regard to the college application process, is to wait until a school has been chosen or the list of choices has been narrowed down, before applying for admission. This may seem like a sound strategy from a financial perspective, since fewer applications would be submitted, therefore paying fewer application fees. But it could actually cost you a lot.

The cost to you could be in scholarships, financial aid, or even in not getting the housing assignment or roommate you want. The reason is that colleges routinely use the admission application as a trigger for other things. For example, neither scholarships nor financial aid may be awarded to students who have yet to apply – and these programs DO run out of money. You could view it that schools probably won’t offer you money to go to their school until you’ve shown you’re serious about them - by applying. Also, campus housing is usually assigned first-come, first-served.

In the admissions world, there is an effort to get interested students to apply for admission. Then, once they’ve done that, to move them additional steps closer to enrollment at that school. By waiting to apply, you may actually be giving admission professionals the idea that you aren’t interested. In addition, it may well be that certain types of contacts or reminders are not undertaken with students who have not applied. So you may not receive that scholarship deadline reminder phone call that all those who did apply received. Budget decisions often dictate the amount of time and resources allocated to different types of functions. And they are much more likely to spend resources contacting applicants (who are much more likely to enroll), than non-applicants – no matter how desirable you are as a student. Missing a deadline in this process is never a good idea!

Okay, how should I do it? First, if you start the process of determining the schools you’re interested in before Senior year, it’s a lot easier to narrow down your list! If you are considering an early decision school, you’ll apply around September. Otherwise, plan on applying to around five schools (or fewer), and doing it before Christmas (Before Thanksgiving if you can, since December is SO busy). Second campus visits and narrowing down your list of schools should take place in late Fall and early Spring, and final decisions should be made in mid to late Spring.

For each school, until you eliminate it from consideration, you’ll also submit scholarship applications, list that school on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as one of the schools you’re considering, and start the housing application process. Move forward with each school until financial considerations dictate a delay OR you are willing to risk that money to ensure you get the housing assignment you want (there is often a date before which you’ll still get at least a partial refund).

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