It's That Time of Year Again!

It's that time of year again! Our admissions counselors are out on the road traveling to high schools all along the east coast and beyond, while students are working to narrow the huge list of schools they were once interested in down to the select few to which they will apply.  We know as well as you do that this time of year is as exciting as it is stressful, but it is important to stop and just enjoy the moments of your senior year of high school.  We have suggestions for you that might help you to make those big decisions, while still living in the moment of the amazing memories you will have for this year of your life.
   

1.      Research the schools you are interested in; decide what factors are most important to you in a college/university and start there.  What schools have the majors that are of the greatest interest to you?  What student life activities are important to you?  Do you want to be closer or farther away from home?  Are you looking for an urban campus, or something with a little more open space?  These are questions that will certainly help you to begin crossing off that long list of options. 

2.      With that smaller list, you are ready to begin your campus visits.  The importance of campus visits cannot be stressed enough.  It is through these visits that you will begin to determine and recognize the “perfect fit” for you.  Visiting college and university campuses is more than just walking around the campus for a little bit on your own.  They are about scheduling time with the admissions office and your personal admissions counselor, sitting in on a class or two, touring campus with a current student, even spending the night to get the true feel of residence life.  Taking the time to have a meal in the dining room and sitting down with a professor are also key elements to a meaningful campus visit. Many schools  host campus events that provide you, the prospective student, the opportunity to do all of these things; Notre Dame of Maryland University hosts several Get Acquainted Days every fall, welcoming students and opening the campus to them for the day. Click here to register for our next Get Acquainted Day on Friday, November 16^th.  Through your visiting, you will begin to understand what truly matters to you and how each particular campus and school fits into those emerging values.

3.      Once you have visited the schools on your list and have maybe even paired it down a bit more, start your applications and work toward early application deadlines.  Many schools offer an early action/decision deadline of December 1st, as Notre Dame of Maryland does.  As a first year student, if you meet the December 1^st deadline, you will receive your admissions decision by Christmas.  Transfer students have a priority deadline of December 15^th for the spring semester and March 15^th for fall semester. The earlier your application is completed, submitted, and reviewed, the earlier we can provide decisions on not only your acceptance, but about your qualifications for internal NDMU scholarships and financial aid opportunities.

     All schools have different requirements and procedures for completed applications.  At Notre Dame of Maryland, a completed application includes the following:

- application (paper, online or CommonApp)

- personal essay

- student resume 

- one letter of recommendation

- official high school transcript (not required for transfer students with over 30 credits)

- official SAT and/or ACT scores (not required for transfer students with over 30 credits)
- official college transcripts (transfer students only) 

4.      The final step in the application process begins January 1^st – the day that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is made available.  With this completed document (based on your family’s tax information from the previous year), the federal government will determine what your family is able to contribute to your college education and the federal monies for which you are eligible.  Be sure to list all of the schools to which you have applied on the FAFSA so that each school is certain to receive your information and there are no delays in your financial aid decisions (Notre Dame of Maryland’s school code is 002065).  And don’t worry too much if you discover a mistake somewhere on the FAFSA, you have the ability to go back in and make changes!

The key to all of this?  One step at a time!  The admissions counselors and our entire Women’s College admissions staff is here to help you each step of the way.  Just take a minute to give us a call at 410-532-5330 or send a message to admiss@ndm.edu and we are happy to provide our guidance and insight.  Not sure who your admissions counselor is?  Take a look at our Meet Your Admission Counselor tab to meet your personal admissions counselor at Notre Dame of Maryland University.  We hope to hear from you soon and we would love to hear about your favorite memory of senior year so far!