Even before you apply to college, you have a lot of decisions to make: choosing where to apply, how to apply and when to apply.
To make it easier for you, this article walks you through everything you need to know about each choice, so you can make it with confidence. Or, if you’re ready to get started, check out this step-by-step guide to college applications.
Choose your schools
The first step is to make a list of the schools where you want to apply. The key here is to find the best schools for you. There are plenty of lists that rank colleges, but only you know exactly what you want from your college experience. So, think about what you want and use that to find colleges that fit you.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself before you start:
- What do I want to study? Does this college have a good degree program for that? Name recognition isn’t everything. When you’re researching a college, investigate your specific degree program. Is the school known for that area of study? Do the professors seem like a good fit for you?
- How much does this school cost? Does that make sense for my career path? Colleges and universities are required to provide the cost of attendance, which is an estimated total cost to attend that institution for a year. This includes tuition, fees, housing, food, educational materials and other related expenses.
- 💰Any financial aid like loans, grants or scholarships offsets the cost of your education. The Department of Education has a Federal Student Aid Estimator that can give you an idea of how much aid you can expect from the government.
- Is it a large (or small) school? A college’s size has no inherent advantage or disadvantage, but it does offer trade-offs. If getting to know your professors is important to you, for example, then a smaller college might be better.
- What kind of extracurricular activities are available? Consider what kinds of clubs, professional organizations, Greek life or volunteer work you’re interested in and whether that college offers that.
- How far from home do I want to be? Do you want to visit somewhere completely new, or do you want to be able to go home relatively easily?
- What kind of academic support is available? Most schools offer some form of tutoring, but it’s useful to know exactly what kinds of help it can offer. You never know when you’ll need help with a class!
- What does its career services center offer? Similar to tutoring, most colleges can assist your search for a job or internship. Look into what services it offers, like resume help, career advising or interview preparation.
- What housing options are available? How long can you live in campus housing? If you do have to move off campus, what is the housing market like nearby?
A college may not tick all your boxes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should exclude it from your list. Use these questions to home in on schools that are likely a good fit for you.
How many colleges you include in this list is up to you and how many applications you want to submit. College Board recommends around five to eight applications, ideally giving you several acceptances to choose between.
Decide on application type
Once you’ve made your list, the next step is to apply. There are a few common ways you can apply to college: through the university’s own application, through Common App or by direct admission. Each option has its own benefits.
The Common App is one of the most-used ways to apply to college and is accepted by over 1,000 colleges. You can use this application to apply to several schools at once, up to a maximum of 20. It saves information that most colleges ask for—like personal information, activities or in-progress coursework—to streamline your applications.
Despite its popularity, not every school accepts Common App. You may instead need to use a school’s institutional application, which you can find on its website. Universities may offer additional benefits, such as waiving your application fee if you attend an open house or campus tour.
While colleges can offer some benefits for institutional applications, they do not give preferential treatment based on application alone.
Direct admission, on the other hand, is a relatively new way to get into college. Colleges like Pacific provide certain requirements, usually academic, to partner companies including Niche and Common App. If you meet those requirements when you create an account with those companies, you get an automatic offer of admission.
You can still apply with a traditional application if you aren’t offered direct admission.
Even if a school has direct admission, there may be some degree programs there that do not accept direct admission. These are typically majors with extra requirements for admission, such as an audition. For a more in-depth look at how Niche Direct Admissions works, take a look at this article.
Decide on when to apply
Once you have your college picks, make sure you know the application deadlines for each one. This process can be a little tricky because many colleges offer more than one type of admission, which each have their own pros and cons. The most common are Regular Decision, Early Action and Early Decision.
Early Decision is a good option for your top-choice school, because it’s a binding commitment to attend that college if admitted. It shows that you’re really committed to going there, which can give your application a bump. If you apply through Early Decision, be absolutely certain that it’s where you want to be.
Early Action, on the other hand, is not binding. You can apply to more than one school through early action, which means you’ll have more time to compare your acceptances based on things like financial aid packages.
“You get a chance to visit on holiday break or compare your choices a bit longer,” Azarcon says. “There’s a bit more time to compare financial aid packages. So, the biggest advantage of those extra few months is knowing you’ve secured admission, secured the scholarship, getting your merit aid. And you still have until that May 1 deadline.”
Regular Decision is the most common type of admission, typically due in December or January. While the other two options give you more time to compare your acceptances, Regular Decision gives you more time to polish your application. This can help if you’re busy with school, work, extracurriculars or family commitments.
Can I submit my college application after the deadline? You should submit your application before the Regular Decision deadline, but you may still have a chance after this date. Some schools accept applications afterward, although at a disadvantage. Pacific, for example, considers applications on a space-available basis. Check a college’s admission page to see if they continue to accept applications.