September Action Items & Important Info

Contact your counselor with questions after reviewing the information below.

STUDENT ACTION ITEMS

Register for college representative visits in SCOIR. Click on “Me” and then “Visits & Deadlines.” These are important opportunities to demonstrate interest and learn about colleges.
- Check this calendar weekly, as college visits are still being added.
- Register only for visits you plan to attend. If the visit conflicts with a class, you must first ask your teacher for permission to miss class at least 48 hours in advance.
- Before attending your first meeting, read the counselors’ do’s and don’t’s.
- If you miss a visit but plan to apply, you should send a quick email (template here) to the visiting representative. Your college counselor or Ms. Chaddock can share the rep’s contact information.
Sign-up for Text Message Reminders here (students only), if you haven’t already.
Ask a friend to write kudos on your behalf! Their kudos are due Friday, Sept. 19, 8am in the Peer Kudos form (see the email sent by Ms. Singh on Sept. 5 for full details and information).
Enable your counselor to preview your Common Application, if you haven’t yet done so. Instructions are available in the fourth video on the Resources Page.
Fill in the Common Application (minus the essay). Remember you shouldn’t just list credentials and awards with your activities. Need a refresher on how to do this? Watch the third video on the Resources Page and/or read this piece by Mx. Nan.
Insert the College Essay Tracker table at the top of your College Essays document. Simply copy the table in this document, and paste at the top of your official college essays document (your counselor created the essay document for you in the spring). Start filling it out with prompts and due dates.
Update your college list in SCOIR. Move colleges into the “Applying” or “Not Interested” columns, selecting the correct application plan (Early, Regular, etc.) for schools in the “Applying” Column.
Read the office’s guidelines for writing supplemental essays. Writing supplements is different from the main essay. When asking for feedback, your essay must include the prompt and word limit. While “rough” drafts are okay (we never expect perfection), sloppy drafts are not. Review your essay for grammar, spelling, and proper formatting.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

College Visit Programs for Underrepresented Students. Some colleges offer in-person and/or virtual programs to bring underrepresented students to campus. Appily provides a listing of programs here: Fly-in & Diversity Programs. Discuss with your counselor if you want to learn more or will apply.
Scholarships. Sign-up for a free Going Merry account to begin searching for scholarships. While there are many other scholarship sites (Visit the Resources Page FAQs for more info), Going Merry allows students to sort by deadline, and is simple and user-friendly. Two major scholarships with upcoming deadlines:
Teacher Recommendations. The college counseling office is working with your teachers to submit recommendations. There is nothing more you need to do. Some students have inquired about sending their teachers email reminders. Do not! Your teachers know this is a priority, and in prior years, have found such reminders irksome and unnecessary.
Remember that Senior Year Matters. If you’re applying early anywhere, colleges often request first quarter grades from our office. If those grades are requested – and there is no way to know which colleges will – they are important. In Regular Decision, first semester grades are very important. In June, your final grades are reviewed by the college at which you enroll - if there is a drop in grades, you risk losing your space. Most importantly, the skills you build this year will make you better prepared for college. Every year, alumni who suffered from “senioritis” say they wish they had remained focused in senior year because they would have had a stronger foundation for college.
You are responsible for knowing all application requirements and deadlines for each school you are applying to. For example: interview availability, whether to send official standardized testing, whether they accept additional recommendation letters, etc. Read colleges’ application instructions carefully.

IMPORTANT COLLEGE-SPECIFIC INFORMATION

MIT. MIT requires you to enter your classes and grades in the application (in addition to the college office sending your transcript). Enter your course names exactly as they appear on your transcript. For classes Lakeside designates as “advanced” or “accelerated,” choose the “honors” level designation (do this for Linear Algebra, too).
University of Washington. Use this application guide.
- When completing their college-specific questions, you’re required to respond to an essay prompt that sounds remarkably similar to the main essay. Paste your Common App essay into this field. UW does not download the essay from the “My Common App” section and will only see the essay you paste here.
- Enter your GPA from SCOIR into the Common Application for UW only. After submitting the UW application, remember to delete your GPA.
UK Universities. Link your application to the "Lakeside Centre" by entering our buzzword, "LakesideLions2026" during the registration process. Also, if you’re applying to Oxford University or Imperial College, many programs at both schools require specific tests that you can take in Seattle, so do your research. Register for these tests here (most registration deadlines are this month!),

UPCOMING DATES AND DEADLINES

September 5: Deadline to register for optional School-Day SAT/ACT
September 9: College Coffee Talk for Senior Parents & Guardians, 7:00 - 8:15 PM
September 12: Deadline for discretionary course changes
September 19: Peer Kudos due
October 1: Final date to add all schools with deadlines of October 15 or sooner to SCOIR “Applying”
October 7: Succeeding with your Financial Aid Applications: A Webinar by College Money Method, 6:30 - 8 PM
October 10: School Day SAT
October 14: Final date to add all schools with deadlines of December 1 or sooner to your “Applying” list in SCOIR. This includes Early Decision and Early Action schools; School Day ACT
November 1: Early Action and Early Decision Deadlines for many colleges
November 15: Early Action and Early Decision Deadlines for many colleges; UW application deadline
November 24-28: Thanksgiving Break and a great opportunity to work on applications! (College office closed)
December 1: Final college lists due (instructions forthcoming); deadline for University of California campuses and Cal State system