You should now be officially ahead of the curve because you submitted your applications last week.  Wahoo!  If not, keep working:  you still have time.  My gift to you is that this week's activity doesn't have to be done, in fact can't be done, until Janaury, after the winter break.  So take a load off and just file this away to look at bright and early on January 2.

As you now know, a college application is really an assembly of a lot of parts - some of which you control and some of which you don't. But, even though you don't control a part of the application doesn't mean you aren't responsible for seeing that it gets in and your application is complete.

This week I'm going to a 3-step process for making sure that the parts you don't control actually get in and your application is complete so it can be reviewed and an admission decision made.

Step 1. Doublecheck yourself and make sure that every "go-to" person (see list below) was given your final list of colleges, so that they sent their parts to the right places.

• Testing Services (ACT or ETS or Both): Virtual - Your Online Accounts
• Secondary School Report (SSR) or Its Equivalent: High School Guidance/College Counselor
• Teacher Recommendations: The Teacher
• Peer Recommendations: The Peer

Step 2. Check in with the go-to person for each part and make polite inquiry about when and how that part was delivered to the various colleges on your list.

• If you've discovered you left a college off the list, ask for another copy to be sent to that college.
• If you discover that the part is "still being worked on," encourage the person to get it done by explaining that your application can't be reviewed until this part is received, ask if it can be done within the week, and then follow-up after the week to see if it was done. If someone puts you off after that, then seek someone else to do it.

Step 3. If you haven't received notice that your application is complete by January 15th, contact the college and see what is missing. Repeat above steps until everything is in.

DO NOT hassle the college about what is missing from your application until after January 15th - it takes a few weeks for the mail that has come in around January 1st to be processed. You won't get good information if you call too soon - your recommendation may be in the still-to-be-opened stack of mail - and you'll only take time from the administrative staff that they could devote to processing the mail if they weren't having to answer calls and emails from applicants like you!

That's all you have to do. Not bad huh?  Really, it is no more than a "role swap" -- just imagine you are your parent or counselor and nudge others the way they have been nudging you for the last billion weeks!

Comments or Questions

Got a helpful hint or some information to share with you fellow applicants?  Have a sticky situation and need advice?   Post away!

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.