College Application Procedures

The personal application and essay is your part of the application, and you will want to be proud of what you submit . Allow plenty of time to do your best . There are two basic kinds of college application forms . The first is the college’s own form, which contains questions generated specifically for use at that college . It may range from a computer form to a very complex form in which short answer questions are included . The second is the Common Application, designed to simplify the application process and allow students to do a quality job on one application . There are more than 750 colleges participating in the Common Application program . A student fills out the form, reviews and submits it to participating schools to which he/she will apply . All participating colleges agree to accept the Common Application and confirm that no distinction will be made between the college’s own application and the Common Application . If you choose to take advantage of the Common Application you are advised to research any supplemental items/forms required by the specific colleges to which you will apply .

Personal Application and Essay Checklist

l Review each application carefully before beginning . Be sure to note specific instructions . l Review individual college admission websites for specific application questions . l Seek an objective opinion of your essay responses .

Teachers, advisors, or peers can help . You are expected to submit a draft of your essay to the college counselors for a college admissions perspective . l If possible, electronically save each completed form before you send it; occasionally things do get accidentally deleted .

Teacher Recommendations

Most colleges require one or more recommendations from teachers who have had you in class . The College Office asks that you formally ask (face to face) and provide teachers with a teacher recommendation request form for this purpose . This is a three part form . One form will be handed to the teacher, one to the college office and one is kept for the student’s record . Even if a college does not require teacher recommendations, we advise and expect that you send at least one .

Read the instructions carefully; some colleges are very specific about which teachers they wish to hear from . If you have some latitude about whom to choose, think about the decision carefully . The teacher who gave you the best grade may not necessarily be the best recommender . Try to use the same teachers for all your recommendations as this helps to conserve their efforts and yours .

Procedure Checklist

l Request teacher recommendations in the spring of your fifth form year . This allows teachers to plan ahead . Do not wait until the last minute . Your teachers may deny your request if they feel that they have not been given enough notice . We will discuss the recommendation request process at length with Fifth Formers this spring .

Secondary School Report Forms (The “Blue Sheet”)

Virtually every college requires a transcript and a school recommendation as part of the application process . Some colleges provide links to these forms with which they request this information . Westminster School requires an official form from students releasing their school documents to colleges . This is called the “Blue Sheet .

Procedure Checklist

l Fill out the FERPA authorization on your

Common Application . This waiver must be filled out before the College Office can send any of your school materials to colleges . We advise students to WAIVE their rights to see submitted school materials . This provides the college with the knowledge that the student is confident that their school materials are accurate and truthful . To complete the process, login to your NAVIANCE account . Match your Common Application under the “COLLEGES” tab on your homepage .

Then click “colleges I’m applying to .” Follow the prompts to match your common application providing your common application username and date of birth . This allows NAVIANCE to link the proper school materials to the correct application .

A note about waivers: Many colleges give you the option to sign a line on your secondary school report form indicating that you waive your right to see the school report if you eventually enroll in the college . We recommend that you do sign these waivers so that the college can be confident that our recommendations are accurate and truthful . l Pick up a Westminster School Secondary Report

Request Form (Blue Sheet) . Fill in the top section of the “Blue Sheet” with your name, and all other information requested . Sign the sheet .

List all the colleges and universities to which you are applying on the “Blue Sheet” and their respective due dates . Hand in the “Blue Sheet” to the college office . The college office must have a signed release in order to send supporting documents to each college on your list . The college office will send an official sedondary school transcipt, the current school profile, a counselor recommendtion and the required teacher recommendations to each school on the students signed Blue Sheet . l If you have decided to apply to a college through an EARLY DECISION program, you must use the “Pink Sheet” specifically created for ED .

Make sure you sign and identify the deadline for the application . This is extremely important in helping us to meet the colleges’ deadlines . l Bring the “Blue Sheet” and or “Pink Sheet” to the

College Office at least three to four weeks before your first college due date . If we do not receive your forms at least three weeks before your first deadline, we cannot ensure that they will reach your colleges on time . l The College Office automatically sends 1st

Trimester grades, Mid-Year School Report Forms and 2nd Trimester grades to colleges . There is no special process for this . Midterm grades are interim grades and are not sent to colleges officially . A final transcript will automatically be sent from the college office to the college in which you plan to enroll directly following graduation .