Omniac Attack!

Hey Students!

The October ACT has come and gone, and students all over Albuquerque (and everywhere else too) have breathed a collective sigh of relief.  Unfortunately, now is definitely not the time to relax.  The college admissions process is long and involved, and even if one of the more important parts of it is over, there's still plenty to do and little time left.  Here are three things that all students and parents should be aware of before they turn in their applications.

Without question, you must remember your various deadlines.  This not only covers your overall application deadlines, but also any deadline for a component part of your application.  These are super important because missing any deadline will completely invalidate your application.  Or in other words, No matter how good your application would be, it will be rejected if you turn it in late.

Another important deadline to know is the date of the next ACT. (The final deadline for the December ACT is November 19th, just a few weeks from now) Even though you probably won't get the results back until after your application deadlines hit, if you're not happy with your results from October, you should sign up for the December exam anyway.  Most schools will allow you to update your application even after you've turned it in.  So the only reason not to take the next test is if you already have the score that you wanted.

By now, you should have all of the major things about your application well in hand. The application itself should be nearly done, your tests scores should be on their way, and you should at least have a draft done for your essay. But there are several other little things that you should be starting on right now, now that time is becoming an issue. We understand that things like letters of recommendation and college visits and interviews are very small factors in your overall application, but that doesn't mean that they're not inmportant or that you can wait until the last minute for them. In fact, these are the things you can least afford to put off. It's really not a big deal if you have to update your test scores at the last minute, you just have to fill out a form on the school's website. But if you try calling one of your teachers for a recommendation the day before you need it, you're going to be out of luck. You have less than a month before the deadlines start coming up, and it takes time for a teacher to write a letter of recommendation. It takes time to have your essay proofread and corrected. It takes time to visit a college and do an interview. All of these little details may be small, but they're still important and they're time consuming. Start them all soon!

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