Making Your List & Checking it Twice!
The year is coming to a close and that means so should your student’s applications to private school! To help you avoid feeling overwhelmed by the actual applications amidst some inevitable holiday stress, we’ve created a framework to help you get the big dub as you approach the New Year.
We’ve been talking about lists for a while now! There are lists and then there are LISTS! And if you’re someone who loves to make lists, you may have a list for things you “have to do” versus a list for things you “must do”... those lists may be very different!
We want to let you in on a little secret though…your lists are important but the game changer is how you prioritize!
Create Your List
We’re not just talking about prioritizing your list of schools when we say “Create your list.” Yes, by now you should have a good sense of what your school list looks like and what school your student will be applying to.
Start organizing by figuring out where you want to create your list. This master list is going to include the things you need to get done for each of your school applications. For some parents, a notebook works great and going “old school” is just fine, especially if it means you’ll use it! Others keep physical folders for each school. For some, they prefer an Excel spreadsheet or using Google Tasks. High tech is good too, if you’ll use it! If you have a favorite app that you like to use, go for it! Whatever it is, what matters most is that you’ll cross things off your list!
What’s On Your List?
Let’s start by having you list out the schools your student will be applying to. By now you should make sure your student has a few schools in mind that they feel confident about. The schools you’re putting on this list should take into account what you really want out of a school, considering what’s most important to you and your student, and what each school offers that they could benefit the most from.
Systemizing Your List
Remember how we said prioritizing is the game changer? It is! Here’s what you do! Under each school’s name, we recommend breaking down the priorities of what you need to get accomplished into categories or “buckets.” You can choose to elaborate or simplify, but creating this framework for prioritizing will help you get your tasks done.
We recommend using the following four “buckets” or priorities for tasks:
1.Now! Just Do it!
These are the tasks that are absolutely time sensitive and in fact, other essential tasks may be dependent on them. In some cases, these decisions can also have financial implications.
For example, asking for teacher recommendations needs to be done now. Why? The teachers need time to complete them and if they don’t complete them, they won’t be submitted and your student’s application will not be considered complete by the deadline. If your student’s application isn’t complete by the application deadline, they may not be eligible for the first round of admissions decisions and/or financial aid.
2. Later! Just Relax….
Every time you tackle one of the “now” tasks on your list, turn to a task on your “later” list as your next step. The tasks on your “later” list should be ones that are not time sensitive, yet if you don’t chip away at them, they’ll be your next “now” list.
It’s important to have this particular “later” list as it will help you to stop stressing and stop worrying. This is because it lightens up your top priority list and is a great way to give yourself some grace!
Here are some quick later tasks you can add to your list:
Set up your Standard Application Online (SAO) account and portal
Schedule any remaining interviews or in-person campus visits
Block off time on your calendar to work on applications
Send off a couple quick thank you notes or emails to people you’ve met with
Call your student’s school and find out their policy for releasing official transcripts
Schedule a call with the Director of Financial Aid at the schools you’re applying to
Request your student’s ISEE or SSAT scores be sent to the schools you’re applying to
The little stuff will get you there! And remember, sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax!
3. Delegate! Check that one off!
President Dwight Eisenhower is quoted as saying, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” We often hear from parents that the other parent is happy to help out with the application process but most often, one parent feels they have to do everything and therefore carries all the responsibilities. This is a perfect time to leverage the notion that many hands make for light work! Delegate, delegate, delegate!
It’s okay to recognize and accept that just because someone does something a little differently than you would, that doesn't mean it's wrong. What counts is that your goals get accomplished at a sufficient level of quality. Take others up on their offers to help out, as leveraging their skill sets only aids in your overall productivity!
Here are some examples of ways our clients have delegated admissions process tasks:
One parent fills out the application forms while the other drafts parent essays
Leverage nannies or older siblings to sit with a student to help write thank you notes
Ask someone else to call and schedule interviews and campus visits
Have your student ride their bike to the post office to mail their thank you notes
Enlist a relative to help your student create a virtual portfolio of their artwork
Ask a favorite tech-savvy friend to help create a video of athletic highlights to submit
4. Toss! Ba-bye….done!
Once you’ve worked through prioritizing your list, you may realize that some items are no longer needed or relevant. If you work through your lists on a regular basis, you’ll find things to be more manageable, neater and less overwhelming!
What can you toss? Well, much depends on what you’ve accomplished up to this point although a few examples we’ve heard of recently:
By speaking with their child’s school guidance counselor, one parent realized they could do everything electronically rather than needing to go in-person.
Another parent discovered upon reviewing all of their application questions, that they had fewer essays to write, as many questions overlapped across the schools.
A mom realized when she sat down to schedule campus visits/interviews, she was able to schedule many of them online at night, saving her daytime hours for her career.
Ready, Set, GO!
As you can see, creating your own application lists will be an invaluable tools to help keep you (and others!) on task! Remember, prioritize across your list(s) by creating the buckets that work for you. Hit the most important things first and then move on to your smaller to-do’s on your list. There is no better feeling than crossing things off your list. If you prioritize and trust your process, you’ll be creating your lists and checking them twice! You’ve got this!