I’m sure most of you have heard the stories of your parents or older siblings waiting for college decisions by looking for either a large, thick envelope, which suggested you were accepted into an institution, or a small, thin envelope which delivered the devastating news that you were not a successful applicant. Technology and upgrades have changed things drastically and the same information is delivered in a much different way. Now, most schools have a student portal that applicants make as soon as you finish your applications.
Every school is different in how they approach their school portals, but most schools use this portal in a variety of ways. They will use it for communication, they may ask you to upload documents to their school portal, or ask you to enter grades or financial information. Some of the communications you may receive through your portal are Financial Aid packages and admissions decisions. Once you are admitted, you may sign up for summer orientation or classes within the portal as well. It ends up being a one stop shop when you are admitted.
Now that you know all of the things that you can do/see in the portal, it is important that you know what to do when you get the information about it from the school. Most times, once you apply, you’ll get an automated email to set up your portal. I get it, you just applied, the last thing you want to do is give more time to the school. You want a break. Resist that temptation! Usually those automated emails have a temporary password that expires after a set amount of time. I cannot tell you how many students I have worked with who have had to call the college and ask for their portal temporary password to be reset. Make your account immediately and then make a note of your username (you may be able to choose it, or it may be a student ID that is assigned), and the password you choose. Keeping these credentials straight is just as important as staying organized with your college application list. The more organized you are on the front end, the less stress you will experience as you wait for your admissions decisions. Don’t have a panic attack because your friends are finding out whether or not they got into a school and you cannot even log into your account. Keep track of that information and you’ll be in great shape.
Finally, your portal is where you can accept or deny your admission offer. Just because you get into your dream school, doesn’t mean you are done. You have to officially accept your offer by the school’s deadline, or you risk giving up your seat. Also, remember that other students are still awaiting a seat, so once you make your final decision on where you want to attend, not only should you accept the seat, but you should reject the other admissions offers you have been given so those other schools can move on with their lists.
All of this is exciting, and can be overwhelming at times, but knowing what to look for and where to look can be helpful and the excitement of waiting by the mailbox can now be replaced by the chime of an email or the click of the mouse. But, don’t forget to have the balloons and confetti handy to celebrate!
By – Chris Merle