It’s not too late to get into a four-year university this year – but students will have to act fast.
More than 220 public and private colleges and universities are still accepting applications for the fall 2015 semester, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual College Openings Update.
The list, released Wednesday, shows which of the organization’s member institutions still have space for freshmen and transfers following the May 1 national response date for college acceptances.
Many schools on the list are small, private institutions, but there are still spots available at ‘big name’ universities like DePaul and large state institutions like Bowling Green State University.
The amount of space available and how long applications will be open to students varies by school. Students interested in applying now need to move quickly, but should be careful not to sacrifice accuracy. Colleges are looking for strong applicants who meet their requirements for acceptance.
“It’s the same sort of process. We’re going to look for the same things and I would hope that they would give that same sort of effort applying to Illinois State University this late in the game,” says Jeff Mavros, director of admissions for the university.
Many students who apply after May 1 weren’t accepted into their top-choice institutions.
It also helps for students to make sure they have all of their supporting documentation ready when they’re applying to institutions, which includes official test scores and high school transcripts, says Cecilia Castellano, director of admissions at Bowling Green State University.
Housing and financial aid are other reasons for students to move fast. Bowling Green State University will continue to accept students until they fill their housing capacity. Once housing is full, only local students who can commute will be accepted.
Students can look online to see if schools are still accepting applications. They should also call the school to speak with an admissions officer and learn about what options are still available. An admissions officer should be able to connect the student with financial aid to let them know what sort of institutional and merit aid is still available, if any.
“At this point it just becomes a matter of taking care of your business quickly. The sooner you make the decision to start the process, then you can get your admissions offer, you can start your financial aid process and then you can see what else you need to do,” says Castellano.
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