Tick-Tock . . . Do you know what day it is?

OK–seems like school just started . . . operative phrase–seems like! How could it be November already? Do your paws hurt from opening all that mail? I mean–I have paper cuts on my paws! Is your mail piling up all over the place? By the way, have you ever seen a lonely dog in any of those viewbooks? Is it ever raining? It is very easy for this paperwork thing to get out of control . . . very easy!

You need a system for paperwork–both incoming and outgoing. Otherwise you’ll end up with piles and piles of advertising–whoops, I mean marketing, double whoops, I mean college information material. By the way, getting mail from a college does not mean you will be admitted to a college! Bummer.

I’ll admit my paperwork is a bit out of control.

But, after a trip to my counselor’s office, I now have a system for incoming and outgoing college related paperwork. I’m keeping a chart that tells me when I’ve sent all the necessary pieces–even if I send things electronically, and I know to keep copies of everything. I also know to seek confirmation from admissions’ offices of receipt of materials. No “lost in cyberspace” info for me!

Here are items I know I have to keep track of:

• the actual application
• the application fee, if one applies
• my transcript (and will I need a midyear/7th semester transcript sent?)
• my test scores–even if a high school puts scores on transcripts many colleges want scores sent from the testing agencies directly to the admissions office (score choice caveat: do what the college tells you to about sending your scores)
• teacher recommendations–how many, if any, do I need and how will I know that the teachers have sent them . . . I need to give my teachers plenty of notice for those recommendations AND I need to remember to say thank you for writing recs for me. If my teacher is sending recommendations through the mail, generally I need to remember to give her/him a stamped envelope for the recommendation. If my counselor and/or the registrar are sending items for me, I need to make sure to follow my school’s procedure for sending items to the college on my behalf . . . high school policies and procedures can be very different, so check with your counselor and registrar to see what you need to do.

It’s important to realize that the year is flying by, and besides buckling down in classes, be aware of the TIME factor and meeting deadlines. I want semester break to be relaxing, so I’m determined to follow my counselor’s guidelines and get all of my applications out by early December. Then, when I watch the clock, I’ll be thinking about fun–not deadlines!


L8R–gotta snail mail some stuff,

Clyde