Could University of Maryland turn out to be the college for you?

Even if the first round of early applications didn’t go as planned, you may still be feeling optimistic about the rest of your applications. But what happens if you have more rejections to look forward too? In this article by University of Maryland student Eric Harris, he describes his less than desired experience with the college application process.

While he went through his share of emotional ups and (mostly) downs, the story highlights how things really can work out for the best. Harris writes, “I LOVE my school! Great friends, exceptional faculty, competitive sports teams, and the fun of leading campus tours to future Terps are my rewards for going with an open mind to a school that was not my first choice.” Judging by his incredible college experience and positive attitude, he found the perfect place for him to spend his college years, even if it was not at the top of his list.

Remember to check in with our recent reminders about double-checking your submission status with the Common App and especially your payment status for all your applications. Finishing your submission is a multi-step process, so make sure all your documentation, supplements, and payments have been received by your schools before you consider yourself finished.

Hard to argue with that. For those of you who were denied acceptance at your top choice (or chose not to apply early), remember that the work in front of you is all that matters. Wrap up those remaining applications, send them out, and relax. The admission season eventually ends, and you'll be focused on your acceptances above all other things.

You can find the Colleges That Change Lives Facebook page here for continued updates.

Don't forget: Go to your My Colleges page and check the Application, Supplement, and Payment statuses for each of your colleges. If the status does not show as green, then you have not submitted that item--even if you think you have. Please do this now. It's much better to discover this today than after the deadline has passed.

Simple, but important, no? Make sure that your applications have fully submitted, and that the payments have gone through. As they say, much better to catch this today than after the deadline has passed.

Commitment. It's a big thing.

This time of year is stressful for high school seniors for many reasons, not least of which is the early decision or early action notification. Though your chances of attending your top choice are higher if you apply early, acceptance is never a sure thing.

If you've been deferred by your early decision option, or you made a late decision on which college you really want to attend, there are ways to channel that anxious energy into something tangible that can actually increase your chances of getting in.

Experts suggest that writing a Commitment Letter will not only help reduce your stress but might also be just what the college needs to tip the balance in your favor.

When the regular decision process unwinds, college admissions officers will be at their desks struggling to determine how many students will accept their offers. After all, they don't want to accept students that are not likely to actually attend. A commitment letter lets the college know that you are passionate about enrolling, and that if admitted, you would definitely accept the offer.

This love letter should demonstrate your enthusiasm for the school and include important updates on your academic and extracurricular life. There's no need to repeat what you've already told them - this should be new info, along with the heartfelt expression of hope that you'll be accepted. Don’t you want your favorite school to know that you’re still working hard on your AP courses, and have now become president of the chess team, or whatever else you might be up to these days - and that all the while you’re dreaming of the day when you can pack up your things, leave home, and finally be on their campus?

Consider this to be one last college essay, just make sure not to be unfaithful. Committing to a school and not attending can reflect negatively on your high school, affecting future students’ chances. Also, colleges sometimes share notes on applicants, and if they realize that they have all gotten the same commitment letter, it might hurt you. No one wants a player.

Students should remind their counselors and teachers that any forms sent by mail should be addressed to the admission office of each college to which they are applying. This certainly sounds basic, but the good people at the Common App remind us with their helpful Facebook updates that these kinds of errors are anything but uncommon.

For teachers and counselors, please do not send anything to the Common Application offices. Though they will (thoughtfully!) post it return to sender, these kinds of mistakes, if made at the last minute, can weigh heavily on students. And if you know of people who are confused about where to send their recommendations, be sure to point them here.

The article cites College Essay Organizer user Naomi Steinberg, owner of Apply Yourself Educational Consulting in Boca Raton, Florida, as saying that it can be useful for seniors to change the name on their accounts, even if only for the application season:

"As parents and advisors, of course we should be encouraging kids to make good choices and maintain favorable online reputations. In reality, we know we cannot monitor and control every move they make, every photo they or their friends take, and what they have in their hands when the photo is taken."

It doesn't even have to be permanent - returning the user name to your actual name after the acceptances come in is standard, though you'll want to keep privacy settings at a comfortable level if you want to avoid a similar problem with your future job searches.

Harvard reinstated its early admission program this year.

As many of you know, the early admission deadlines for schools recently passed. For those of you anxiously waiting till December 15^th when most results are posted, you can check out this chart of early admission application counts for top schools as well as last year’s early admission rates, published by The New York Times Choice Blog. You may notice a decrease in a few of the most selective schools due to this year's reinstatement of Early Admission programs at Harvard and Princeton.

Last school forms tip of the week: When you are completing school forms for a student, make sure that you do not have any other Common App account sessions open in other tabs, windows, or browsers. Running multiple sessions concurrently can confuse the system, resulting in lost work when you try to save. For example, if you are a counselor who has created a test applicant account, make sure that you are not logged into that applicant account as you are working on school forms in your own school official account.

This basically means that you shouldn't keep multiple Common App windows open at the same time. It's very easy to try and fix something in one window, then return to a second window and realize that not only is the info from the first window not saved, but the work you've been doing in the second window isn't going to save either, because the Common App site can't figure out which page your account is currently trying to access. It'll probably end up booting you from the system back to the login page.

The moral of the story is to keep everything simple and to-the-point when you're working on your college apps! Slow and steady wins the race.