Schools and Administrators FAQ

• How many letters of recommendation are needed?
  

Some schools require no letters of recommendation while others may want two or more. My advice is to secure letters of recommendation from three trusted sources. It is much better to have three letters and not need them than to have no letters and discover that your favorite college requires them.

• What do your students know about letters of recommendation?
  

I encourage students to secure letters of recommendation from three trusted sources prior to beginning their senior year of high school. Last minute requests for letters are eliminated.

• Do your students know where to find scholarships online?
  

Have them try this website. I suggest that a temporary email address be created and submitted to a scholarship search site because the amount of junk mail that will accompany the scholarship notices is incredible. State and federal government sites are also good sources of free financial aid.

• To how many colleges should a student apply to attend?
  

I believe that the range between three and six unless there are special circumstances of some kind. Between three and six well-researched schools should fit into the plans of anyone seeking acceptance into college.

• Why is a resume and/or brag sheet needed?
  

These documents can be used to help the people writing your letters of recommendation produce a more robust letter. There are also circumstances where the application has no place for all the student information. The resume is a good vehicle for submitting information that has no other place in the application.

• What should be the length of the essays?
  

My advice is a range of 600 to 700 words (the range for the Common Application is 250-650) in your essays. At that length they can be shaved down or embellished to decrease or increase the length if needed to satisfy requirements form a different application.

• Do your students understand how do I get transcripts sent to the college?
  

Many of my clients don’t know that the registrar at the high school will send the transcripts once they are requested. Most are unsure about anything that is not contained on the pages of their applications.

• Do your students know how test scores are sent to the college?

• SAT –must log onto CollegeBoard.org and request that they be sent.
• ACT –must log onto the ACT.org site and request those scores be sent.

• Do your students know how to list the appropriate activity level for clubs on the application?
  

Even though NHS has “National” in its name, being inducted into the society is done on the local level. If the student has not been involved in the NHS outside the confines of your high school, they must list their participation in the organization on the local level. This holds true for every club and activity.

• Do your students know the proper response to the Dual Credit question on the ApplyTexas application?
  

If the student is taking or has taken a Dual Credit class they will need to select the response “college credit hours” on page 3 question 1 of the ApplyTexas application. They must also provide the community college information for the school awarding the college credit. Many students will claim AP credit in this way and that is a mistake. AP credit cannot be claimed prior to being enrolled at the college.

• Do your students know how essays are attached to the ApplyTexas application?
  

The student must copy and paste the essays into the appropriate areas, without headings (All heading information will be communicated by virtue of pasting the essay into the correct space). Also, get a look at the essays in the preview window. It may not look the same. If anything is different, the student will need to correct all the changes in the edit view and then look at the preview window again.