Thinking of completing college applications over winter break? You might want to rethink those plans


 With most students just about a week from the bliss of winter break, it can be tempting to hold off on finishing those applications, but…

Here are three reasons not to wait…

You need support from your school before winter break begins

Note that winter break is not only a reprieve for students, but a time when schools are fully closed. This means when the last bell rings to start the vacation students will no longer have access to School Counselors, Teacher Recommenders, or Administrators whose support they may need to submit final materials.

Students should take stock of their application requirements and ensure that any school transcripts, recommendations, High School Profiles, forms or other materials that may need to be sent from the school are taken care of in advance of break. This way, you ensure that your applications are fully complete in advance of upcoming January deadlines. If you discover on December 30th that a teacher’s recommendation or a transcript haven’t been sent to a specific school, there’s no opportunity to rectify that before submission. While most colleges offer unofficial grace periods for these school documents to come in, you do not want to be carrying that anxiety and chasing down your teachers on the first day back from break.

Do yourself and the hardworking staff at your school a favor and take stock of those needs to make any final requests, or communicate your appreciation (with a friendly, grateful nudge) for them submitting final materials before break begins. That means proactively communicating your needs by Monday if your school is going on break at the end of the week to give teachers and counselors ample time to follow up on your requests.

Reduce stress by submitting in advance of deadlines:

Applications, including the Common App, have a history of crashing on major submission deadline days due to high traffic. Don’t let this impact your application! We always encourage students to submit applications at least 48 hours before the posted deadline, and longer when possible. Admissions offices will also be closed over winter break, and there will be no one to contact if something goes awry. This means you are best served by hitting submit before college offices close, aiming for no later than midday on the Friday before break, and ideally a day before that. Ensure that your application is not impacted by any technical issues and enjoy the peace of mind to know that you are all set before those urgent final hours.

Work Hard, Rest Well:

Beyond the logistics of submitting applications and required materials, we believe deeply that 12th grade students in the throes of the college application process need the opportunity to rest, restore, and unplug from the admissions process. We know that families of 12th graders need this break too! Pushing through to complete applications before your break begins will enable you to relax and enjoy your academic break in a meaningful way, while recharging for the year ahead. It may be a push to get those final essays written and ready over the next few days, but your family, friends & winter break self will be grateful you put in the effort to be able to close the laptop for a restorative break from the intensity of the fall semester.

And one more thing…hope for the best, but prepare anyway:

Still awaiting early decision or early action news? It’s worth saying that this is the most important scenario to finish those regular decision applications now. If you receive news from an early college that isn’t what you’d hoped for, that is the absolute worst time to try to gather forces to write a decent essay about why you simply can’t wait to join another college’s community. Save yourself the possibility of this pain, and go ahead and get those regular decision essays wrapped up right now. In the best case scenario, you'll never need to hit submit. While you celebrate your acceptance and look towards your future, you won’t mind having devoted a few extra hours to essay writing. In the circumstance that you are disappointed by the news you receive, you will be so grateful that you made the effort, can click submit, and take a break.

TBU Advisors are experienced in supporting students to navigate their college choices and personal best fit, and TBU Essay & Application specialists are experts at supporting students to craft their most compelling, authentic work. If you’d like to explore working with a TBU Advisor, now is the time. Get in touch here and we will look forward to connecting with you.

Looking for more insights like these? Join us on our Membership Platform for exclusive content, live webinars, and the resources and tools to unstick your college process. Not yet a member? Use code TBUWELCOME at checkout to receive your first month of TBU Membership free. Click here to join us

Location: Denver, CO, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AI has arrived to college admissions. What does it mean for students?

Image
  Much like every other sector of life, the rapid development of AI will undoubtedly shape the future of college admissions. What you may not know is that AI is already at play in the admissions review process. So how should students approach essays and applications in light of the growing role of AI? The answers are probably not what you’d expect – AI has already arrived to the admissions review process. In a survey cited by Inside Higher Ed, 50% of college admissions respondents said AI was already in use in their admissions review process. The catch? Those responses were collected in 2023 . In the two years since then the capabilities and accessibility of AI tools have grown exponentially, so it is safe to assume that at this point admissions offices that are not deploying AI in their review process are in the extreme minority. If we can be almost certain that some components of your application will be screened with the use of AI, how does that change the ways students should ...
Read more

When the time comes, how do you choose a college?

Image
 With the May 1st national deposit day in sight, the tables turn for students and families who’ve spent months anxiously awaiting college decisions, and it’s time to decide what’s right for you . While you may be compelled to check the rankings, we have a different approach. Here’s how we encourage you to make your own best decision – #1 Break up with the rankings: There are all kinds of college rankings and ‘best of’ lists out there…and while that may have led you to apply to a certain school, we encourage you to leave all those external validations behind when it comes time to make your college decision. The truth is, no ranking list can tell you if you will be happy, if you will build a great community, meet amazing mentors, or shape the life you want to. Nothing can tell you this with certainty, but decision time is the perfect time to step away from the noise of what everyone else thinks about a college and tap into your own intuition. Here’s how: #2 Ask yourself: how will I m...
Read more

Testing, testing: What to know about the role of the SAT & ACT in 2025 & beyond

Image
 With spring exams upon us, many students & parents wonder – how important is testing really in the college admissions process? While the pendulum swung to a fully test optional landscape just a few years ago, a slow swing back to testing has been underway, especially at the most intensely selective colleges. Here’s what to know to make your own best decisions about testing as you go forward – Where have we been, where are we headed? For those who are keeping track, the landscape at the most selective colleges has swung back in favor of requiring test scores as one component of a complete application. Among the group of 12 colleges known as the “Ivy Plus” Schools which include the eight Ivies plus Stanford, Duke, MIT, and University of Chicago, only four have retained test optional policies as of early 2025. Those are Princeton, Columbia, Duke and University of Chicago. While these schools get much of the attention, the reality is there are over 2100 colleges in the US that co...
Read more