Hitting the Sweet Spot. This phrase has links to sports, advertising, business, and more, and it is generally defined as achieving the optimal outcome by locating the best possible condition for a situation. In baseball, it’s about hitting the ball in the center of the fattest part of the bat barrel. In business, it’s about finding the different operating conditions to maximize profit and efficiency. In golf, it’s about hitting the ball in the center of the clubface to maximize distance and accuracy.
In college admissions, there is no exact time for a student to apply, but there are some timing issues that can be more or less than beneficial. As such, I am going to make a bold statement, then hopefully back it up with my 30+ years of experience: For Early Action, I love September applications, as I think that is the sweet spot for EA admissions (for RD, this is generally mid-November to mid-December). Within the September sweet spot, there is the caveat that the earlier your school starts (early August in GA vs early September in New England for instance), the earlier the sweet spot most likely starts, so the sweet spot for GA students really bleeds into August. UGA treats applications the same whether you apply on the first day the application opens or if you apply on the deadline day, but treating things the same does not mean equal quality or stress. As well, this “sweet spot” applies to the larger picture of admissions, not to each individual applicant. Don’t finish reading this and think I don’t like applications (or applicants) who apply in August or October. I do like them! And for those who have already applied in August, don’t panic, as I am guessing most of you took your time in crafting your application.
- Give yourself time to apply. Yes, you can apply starting August 1, and we have a number of students applying in the first week or two. But we also have a large number of early August applicants emailing us asking to correct something about their application. Give yourself time to complete the application and essays, take a break, and then go back and re-review the application to make sure everything you have entered is correct and how you want it. Give yourself time to take a mental break and then re-check things. On the flip side, applications that are submitted within the last week before the deadline (and especially the last few days) often seem rushed, with gaps or missing information. We have done in-house analysis of our essay reviews, and the applications submitted in the last week of a deadline trend lower. Again, take your time, and don’t rush an application just to get it in by the deadline.
- Give the people working with you on the application time to do their part. In general, fall term at a high school will start sometime between early August and early September, with a little bit of bleed over slightly earlier or later. In working with high school counselors for a number of years, I know that the first several weeks of school are a whirlwind of activity, including class registration changes, sports and clubs starting back, getting everyone on the same page, and just the overall craziness of the start of a new school year. Their focus is on making sure everyone is in the right class, the right room, on the right bus, and just generally in the right space (even the right head space), not on getting out transcripts and recommendations. Give everyone time to get back into the rhythm of school. On the other end of the timeline, there is nothing worse than last minute requests for all of the admissions materials to go out ASAP. Give everyone time to do their part in the admissions process.
- Give your family a less stressful time. Senior year is a stressful time for both students and their families. Don’t make it more stressful. The closer to the deadline you get, the more stress is created. There is nothing worse in the admissions process than the weekly (or daily) back and forth of “have you done your application to X yet?”. But at the same time, parents should not push too hard and have an application submitted early in the process but not actually ready yet. Find that sweet spot!
- Again, UGA is good with students applying on the first day the application opens all through until deadline day. It is just that, like both pets and children, while you are not supposed to have favorites, at times you do about certain things, and with applications, September ones (or late November/early December for RD) are a little higher on my favorite list, as they help everyone in the process. The same goes for my dog Fenway being my somewhat favorite, both for his name (go Red Sox!) and because his brother Charlie can’t control his limbs, knocking everything over, including me.
I hope this helps out a little with the application process, and Go Dawgs!