What to Do After You Get Accepted to College? 12 Things You Should Do
For advice on how to maximize your financial aid after receiving your college acceptance letter, look over these twelve things.
Nothing is more exciting than opening a fresh envelope (or checking your email) to discover an acceptance letter from your ideal college. Once your well-earned happy dance is over, you need to decide what to do next.
You have only a few more weeks to make your decision because the national deadline for college admissions responses is May 1. Don’t wait too long to do these things after you’ve accepted your college admissions offer
Get More Information About Each College
During the admissions process, you probably already learned a lot about each college you were considering, but going even further can aid in your decision-making.
- Ask the Right Questions: Asking the right questions to learn more about each of your options will help you determine which college is best for you when making the final college decision.
- Get Answers from Direct Sources: Depending on the question, here is where to look for an answer.
- Visit—or Revisit—the Campuses: To learn more, if at all possible, visit the campus of a college. You might be able to find a virtual tour of the campus on the college’s website if you are unable to visit in person. Examining the student videos on College Search is an additional online choice for learning about the perspectives of students on particular campuses.
- Think Things Over: You’ve conducted the research and posed inquiries. Check your own feelings and thoughts right now.
Compare Financial Aid Awards
When you have a lot of schools to pick from, sometimes it just boils down to money. Arrange the financial aid packages you have been awarded in a line, and then rank them from best to worst.
Unfortunately, financial aid award letters are not always clear and are frequently deceptive. To fully grasp the financial picture of how much money they can anticipate paying to finance their post-secondary education, students and families should carefully read these letters.
Make Your Acceptance Decision
You don’t have to make a choice right away. Because many colleges (unless you applied as an early decision applicant) don’t anticipate hearing your final decision until May 1, you have some time to decide.
However, keep in mind that colleges take their deadlines seriously. You run the risk of losing your spot if your deposit is late.
Respond to the Colleges That Admitted You
Once you’ve made your mind up about the college you want to attend, let all the institutions that accepted you know.
Respond to the College You’ve Decided to Attend
Make sure to send in the following items, via the online student portal or through email, by the deadline:
- Your acceptance letter
- A deposit
- A separate acceptance letter for financial aid if required
- Any other items as required by your specific college
Respond to the Colleges Whose Offers You’re Declining
You must also send a quick email to the other colleges thanking them and declining their offers. Thus, additional students can now enroll.
Complete All College Formalities
Following your acceptance of an admissions offer, the college will send you a letter outlining the steps you need to take. How happy you are in your freshman year may actually depend on how quickly you begin the various formalities.
This checklist you receive from the school can vary from college to college but they may ask you to
- Sign up for your orientation date
- Select a dorm room and roommate
- Select your courses
- Meet with your counselor
- Submit financial documents
- Send in your deposit
- Pay tuition, fees, and other expenses
- Submit health insurance and medical information including proof of vaccinations
- Select a dining hall meal plan
You should complete these as soon as possible to ensure that you get your pick of the litter for your orientation date, residence hall, and course selection!
Contact the Financial Aid Office
Most likely, you have already filled out applications for various financial aid programs offered by the school, the government, and different private organizations. Contacting the financial aid office at your school isn’t going to hurt, just to make sure everything is organized and ready to go.
Make sure to speak with them as soon as possible if you have any concerns about managing your money or financing your education. If they are unaware that a problem exists, they cannot assist you.
Explore Campus Jobs
If you’ve been chosen for a work-study program, you should begin looking and applying for jobs right away. There is no guarantee of a spot because these jobs fill up quickly. The more options you have and your chances of finding a job that’s a good fit increase the earlier you apply.
Even if you weren’t awarded work study, you can still ask about jobs on campus. For students living off campus, there are frequently many options.
Continue to Apply for Scholarships
All year long, deadlines for scholarships apply. You shouldn’t stop applying just because you’ve decided on your college!
For graduating high school seniors and current college students, there are many awards available. You can also reduce your stress and save time by using a scholarship database.
Related:
Attend Orientation
Nearly every college offers an orientation. You might be required to spend one or more days on campus. It depends on your school and what you’ll do during orientation. But colleges almost always require this activity.
What is completed during orientation depends on the school, but it can include
- Math proficiency exams
- Language proficiency exams
- Team building exercises
- Tours of the most important places on campus
- Creating your schedule with your adviser
- Selecting your dorm room and roommate
- Completing essential paperwork
- Attending a sexual harassment awareness course
- Taking your ID photo
You are more than welcome to inquire about what is covered during your school’s orientation.
Look into Campus Activities
Participating actively in one or more student organizations or extracurricular activities is the best way to make the most of your college experience.
It’s never too early to start looking into what activities the school offers, even though you might only be able to sign up for some clubs once the school year has begun. During your orientation, some clubs might even begin promoting their initiatives, so keep an eye out.
Investigate their website’s clubs and extracurriculars section to find out how to do this. The number of options at some schools is over 400, though. In these circumstances, Google can be your friend. For the first meeting of the year in particular, you should think about following your favorite clubs on social media to stay up to date!
Make a Packing List
It’s imperative that you finish your packing list as your move-in date draws near. Consider what items you want to bring to your dorm. The decor is something else you should think about!
For dorm rooms, it is infamously simple to overpack. They tend to be small, and freshmen worried they won’t have everything they “need.” It’s wise to start small and build from there by focusing on the necessities first.
Making this list early will help you make sure you don’t forget any essentials. It’s also a bad idea to under pack! Additionally, now is a good time to purchase anything you’ll need for your classes or your dorm room.
Buy Books and Materials
You must purchase books and/or other course materials in almost every course to pass it. If you receive your book list in advance, consider ordering them online to save money rather than visiting the campus bookstore.
We advise not opening books that are shrink-wrapped and non-refundable if the wrap is removed until you are positive you need the book!
It’s happened before where professors, in the first class, have stated, “The book is only recommended if you’re interested; it is not at all necessary.” In these situations, waiting can help you save hundreds of dollars.
Conclusion: Celebrate Getting Accepted into College
Your goal this summer is to get ready for your first year of college after you’ve made up your mind to enroll in the college of your choice.
Before you move into your college dorm, there are still a few things you need to take care of, even though the stress of applying to colleges and the wait for acceptance letters may be over. We highly recommend completing the above list of “what to do after college acceptance” as soon as possible to save you from additional stress.
FAQs
What to Do After Accepting College Offer Ontario?
Once you have accepted an offer, ontariocolleges.ca will send a confirmation email to the email address associated with your account. Your accepted offer will be communicated to the other colleges you applied to. A deferral of an admissions offer is not permitted.
How Do You Know If Harvard Will Accept You?
To be considered for admission to Harvard, you must earn top grades in high school. In the class of 2026, 76% of the admitted freshmen had GPAs of 4.0 or higher, and 18% had GPAs between 3.78 and 3.99, according to College Data. 94% of those accepted were among the top 10% of their high school classes.
