What should I do before submitting my college applications?

Before you submit, do one full application audit from the student side. Open each college’s application and check every section for accuracy: legal name, birthdate, address, intended major, activities, honors, testing, and family information.

Then review every writing response in the exact form where you’ll submit it, not just in your draft document. Formatting can break, characters can get cut off, and it’s easy to paste the wrong school name into a supplement. Read slowly for clarity, typos, and whether each answer actually fits that college’s prompt.

Make sure all required materials are accounted for: transcript, school report, counselor recommendation, teacher recommendations, test scores if you’re sending them, and any portfolio or audition materials if relevant. Check whether each college wants official score reports or allows self-reporting.

Confirm deadlines carefully, including the time zone and whether materials like recommendations can arrive slightly later. If you’re applying Early Action or Early Decision, double-check that you selected the correct plan.

Look at the financial aid side too. Submit the FAFSA if you need aid, and check whether any of your colleges require the CSS Profile or their own scholarship forms. Some scholarship deadlines are earlier than the main application deadline.

Preview the final PDF if the platform provides one.

Finally, submit at least a few hours early, ideally a day or more before the deadline. After submitting, save confirmation emails, applicant portal logins, and screenshots or PDFs of what you sent.