Lee Coffin

Your application is your story. It’s your way of introducing yourself to the colleges on your list, and the goal is to share your personal narrative in a confident, clear and compelling way. Years from now, you’ll do something similar as you apply for jobs and write a cover letter that accompanies your resume. What might feel like “bragging” is really your first opportunity to showcase your interests and talents to someone who does not know you.

In other words, you must hit “submit” on the Common Application or Coalition Application by 11:59P on January 1. That action creates your admissions “record” on Dartmouth’s system: it lets us know you’re there and that we should start collecting all the required elements about you. Your teacher, guidance counselor and peer (if you choose to submit one) recommendations as well as mid-year grades, an alumni interview report (your application triggers the referral to your local interviewing committee), and any late-breaking standardized testing can arrive after January 1. If something is missing, we’ll let you know.

Your application is a (very) large document that gets processed through a high-volume server before it gets uploaded to us. That technical transfer is not instantaneous, especially when literally thousands of you usually hit “send” at the same moment on or about December 31. (Tip 3A: Avoid the rush, submit early. Procrastination causes technical gridlock.) This point is important: do not panic when/if you check your status and your application hasn’t been processed. Give the surge a few days to work its way through the server…or submit your application before December 31. (I seem to be repeating myself. I’ve become your parent…)