Multiple Deadlines and Requirements – How Do I Keep it All Organized?
Top Three Takeaways
- Every college has different deadlines and application requirements. Organization is key to success!
- Whatever tools you use, give your child ownership of the organization early in the process.
- There will be paper items to organize as well as electronic files. Make a plan for both.
Create a spreadsheet to keep track of all school visits with notes. Make sure your child adds to this spreadsheet as well. Keep paper materials in a file folder. Create a document that lists your child’s volunteer and extracurricular experiences as well as employment. Turn over the management of this document to your child as soon as possible. This is their journey.
From Mary Beth Stephens, MBS College Coaching LLC: I would recommend a notebook where the student can keep track of their notes on a school, which application (the school’s own or the Common App or Coalition App) the school uses, and deadlines for materials. They can write down who they’ve asked to write their letters of recommendation (the Common App tracks when the LOR request has been sent to the recommender and when it’s received by the Common App). I would also recommend either their own calendar, or use the family calendar to keep track of test dates, application (both college and scholarship) deadlines, when fees need to be paid, etc. We used a large desk-type calendar on our pantry door when each of our sons was applying. At dinner, we would discuss what was coming up, and how he/we was/were going to address it.
Tips from Moms
From Julie Kaiser: Set up digital folders in your inbox. Keep paper folders for all the printed materials mailed to you.
From Angela Try: We kept a spreadsheet with a tab for every college she/we visited. We took notes and put it all in there. They all start to blend together at some point – so get it written down fast. One of the last tabs was a graph of each college, her merit aid award and how much it would
ultimately cost us. This helped tremendously – being able to see it all on one page.
From Denise Beauman: Keep a binder with a calendar of all important dates; include a page for scholarships, a page for applications, and email confirmations.
From Lisa Whelpley: My son started with a spreadsheet on Google Docs, where he tracked things like class size, average ACT of students admitted, graduation rate, etc. After he narrowed down his choices, we changed to tracking each university with Trello, a free online project management tool that allows you to keep track of dates and each step needed, per school. He liked the option of online documentation so that he could have access anywhere, whether on his phone in the middle of a college tour or on the laptop at home, etc. Bring a small notepad to every college tour and take notes!
