You have to submit a lot of information on your Pacific Admission Application, so it’s easy to overlook a mistake. To help you avoid headaches, here’s a list of some of the most common application errors to avoid.
Not providing the best contact information
Enter your own email address and phone number rather than your parents’. Pacific sends you important and time-sensitive messages there, so you want to have regular access to both.
Make sure you’re using your personal email, not the one tied to your high school. Your school may block Pacific’s emails and will deactivate your account once you graduate.
Not listing all your activities
You may hesitate to fill out the activities section with commitments that don’t seem relevant to college, but everything helps! Pacific wants to know who you are as a person, not just what looks great on a resume.
“There’s no right or wrong. We all have different responsibilities outside the classroom,” says Senior Assistant Director of Admission Stephanie Azarcon. “Don’t discredit volunteer work. Don’t discredit your family responsibilities. You may have a list of 20 activities. You may have three, or none, because you commute to school and are there until late at night.”
Your activities section—along with your personal statement, any letters of recommendation and other information—help Pacific form a better idea of who you are. The more you include about your school/personal activities and community involvement, the better.
Not adding your second-choice major
Pacific’s application asks you to include a first-choice and a second-choice major. The application does not require you to include a second choice, but you’re encouraged to do so. Be sure it’s one that you’re really interested in pursuing as an alternative.
Some students think adding a second choice hurts their odds of being accepted to their first choice, but this isn’t the case. If you aren’t accepted to your first-first choice major, you have another chance to be accepted to this second choice.
Submitting a new application to change your major or add information
You should review your application before submitting it to make sure everything is complete and correct. However, you may later realize that you forgot an important activity or want to change your major. Do not submit a new application to correct this.
After you’ve completed your application, you can log back in to your Tiger Connect application portal. At the bottom, you can find the name and email of your admission counselor. You can reach out to them for help with your situation.
Pacific counselors can manually update your major choice. They cannot make changes to parts of your application such as the activity section, but you can send your counselor a supplemental document with your other accomplishments.
More tips:
- Don’t forget to save your login and password information. This is vital for checking in on your application later!
- If you’re still in high school, don’t forget to include all of your in-progress classes.
- Make sure your high school registrar’s office sends your official transcripts to admission@pacific.edu.
- Avoid filling out more than one application. If you complete Pacific’s application, you do not need to submit another through Common App, Niche or other options.