Episode 10: What to Do After Submitting College Applications While You Wait
Episode Description:
The wait is not dead time. It is a window.
In Episode 10 of The Drop In, Lisa and Josh tackle the part of the college admissions process nobody really prepares students for: the stretch between submitting college applications and finally hearing back.
What should you actually do after submitting your college applications? Does demonstrated interest still matter once the application is in? Should you visit colleges while you wait? Do senior-year grades still matter? And how do you make sure a strong application does not unravel before decisions even arrive?
If you are just reaching the submission stage, this episode picks up right where Episode 9: Early Decision, Early Action & Application Deadlines left off.
One of the biggest things students can still control is demonstrated interest. That can mean opening and engaging with college emails, attending virtual or regional events, responding thoughtfully to admissions representatives, visiting campus, or taking advantage of an interview opportunity.
But demonstrated interest does not work the same way everywhere.
A smaller, more distinctive college may care deeply about whether an applicant has taken the time to understand the school and engage with it. A massive public university with tens of thousands of applicants may not track individual engagement in nearly the same way. The key is knowing which colleges actually consider demonstrated interest and putting your energy where it matters.
We also talk about why the waiting period can be one of the smartest times to visit colleges.
That beautiful October campus covered in changing leaves can feel very different in February. Climate is a real part of college fit, especially for students considering schools far from home. Visiting during the actual winter can help students understand what daily life may really feel like before they have to make a final decision.
That connects directly to something we talked about in Episode 3: How to Build a College List: the goal is not simply to get into a college. It is to find a place where the student can actually thrive.
Then we get into the rest of the waiting-period checklist:
Keep senior-year grades up
Make sure required mid-year reports are submitted
Send meaningful application updates when appropriate
Monitor college portals and email
Give newly submitted materials time to appear in the portal
Consider optional interviews
Complete FAFSA, CSS Profile, and other required financial aid paperwork
Keep researching and visiting colleges
And actually enjoy being a senior
And yes, senioritis matters.
Colleges may review senior fall grades through a mid-year report, and the college a student ultimately attends will receive a final transcript. Significant academic declines can raise questions and, in serious cases, jeopardize an admission offer. We talked more about how colleges evaluate grades and academic trends in Episode 2: GPA... The Number Behind the Number.
The goal during the wait is not to refresh an applicant portal 40 times a day or spend three months trying to decode Reddit.
The goal is to stay engaged, finish strong, continue learning about your options, and walk into decision season knowing more about your colleges, more about what you want, and maybe even a little more about yourself.
Because the wait is not something to survive.
It is something to use.
Want to dig deeper? Our companion guide walks through the waiting period step by step, including grades, portals, updates, testing, extracurriculars, financial aid, and what students should do when colleges ask for additional information. Read: What to Do After Submitting Your College Applications.
Need help navigating the wait, interpreting decisions, or figuring out which college is ultimately the right fit? Connect with Lisa and Josh at Decision Drop.
🎙️ Also available on: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeart
What should students do after submitting college applications?
After submitting college applications, students should keep their grades up, monitor their college portals and email, make sure required mid-year reports are submitted, complete financial aid forms, continue researching colleges, and demonstrate interest where it matters.
Students can also use the waiting period to visit campuses, attend college events, prepare for interviews, and learn more about the schools they may eventually have to choose between.
The application may be submitted, but the college process is not over.
For a complete waiting-period checklist, read our companion guide. What to Do After Submitting Your College Applications
Does demonstrated interest matter after you apply to college?
Yes, demonstrated interest can still matter after a student applies, but its importance varies significantly by college.
Some colleges consider whether students visit campus, attend events, interact with admissions communications, or otherwise show sustained interest. Other institutions, particularly very large universities, may place little or no weight on demonstrated interest.
Students should check each college's policies rather than assuming every admissions office tracks engagement the same way.
What counts as demonstrated interest in college admissions?
Demonstrated interest can include opening and engaging with college emails, attending information sessions, visiting campus, participating in regional events, communicating appropriately with admissions representatives, and completing optional interviews.
The goal is not to manufacture enthusiasm. Demonstrated interest should reflect a student's actual interest in a college.
If a student has to fake enthusiasm for a school, that may be useful information about whether the school belongs on the student's list at all.
Should students visit colleges after submitting their applications?
Yes. Visiting a college after applying can help students both demonstrate interest and evaluate fit before admission decisions arrive.
A post-application visit gives students another opportunity to experience the campus, academic environment, surrounding community, and student culture before the relatively short decision window in March and April.
Students considering colleges in climates they have never experienced should especially consider visiting during the winter. A campus that feels perfect in October may feel very different in February.
For more on why fit should drive the college search, revisit our episode on building a balanced college list. Episode 3: How to Build a College List
Do senior-year grades still matter after college applications are submitted?
Yes. Senior-year grades still matter after applications are submitted.
Many colleges receive a mid-year report containing senior fall grades, and the college a student eventually attends will generally receive a final transcript. A significant academic decline can cause an admissions office to ask questions and, in serious cases, reconsider an offer of admission.
Submitting an application is not permission to stop working academically.
For a deeper explanation of how colleges read grades, rigor, trends, and senior-year performance, see Decision Drop's GPA resources. GPA and College Admissions: What Colleges Actually See
What should students do if something important changes after they apply?
If a student earns a significant award, takes on a major new leadership role, reaches an important academic milestone, or has another meaningful accomplishment after applying, some colleges allow an application update.
Students should first check that college's instructions. An update should add genuinely new information to the file, not simply give the student another reason to contact admissions.
Students should also make sure required mid-year reports and other requested materials are submitted on time. See the full post-submission checklist
How often should students check college portals and email?
Students should check their college application portals and email regularly, because colleges may request missing documents, invite students to interviews, ask for additional information, or post important application updates.
However, newly submitted materials may take time to appear in a portal. A document showing as missing immediately after submission does not necessarily mean it was never sent.
Checking consistently is productive. Refreshing obsessively is not.
What financial aid tasks should families complete while waiting?
Families should make sure the FAFSA, CSS Profile when required, and any college-specific financial aid forms are complete and submitted by each institution's deadline.
Admission deadlines and financial aid deadlines are not always the same. Missing a required form can delay a financial aid package and make it much harder to compare college offers when decisions arrive.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction: Navigating the College Application Wait
01:51 The Waiting Game: Why It Feels Like Dead Time
03:51 What Students Can Do While Waiting: Key Strategies
04:53 Understanding Demonstrated Interest and Its Impact
07:02 How Different Schools Value Interest and Engagement
08:58 The Power of Campus Visits During the Wait
11:18 Visiting in Different Climates: Why It Matters
15:52 Productive Activities During the Waiting Period
16:42 Maintaining Grades and Updating Colleges
18:39 Monitoring Application Portals and Staying Informed
21:28 Handling the Emotional Side of Waiting
23:21 The Importance of Finishing Strong in Senior Year
25:54 Reframing the Waiting Period as an Opportunity
27:06 Preparing for Decision Day and Beyond
Read Full Transcript
Josh: Every week we drop the noise.
Lisa: Drop the stress.
Josh: And drop some knowledge.
Lisa: Welcome to The Drop In, the College Admissions podcast by Decision Drop.
If you want to learn more about our services or have Josh and I help your family through this process personally, please head over to decisiondrop.com and check us out.
Josh: I'm Josh.
Lisa: I'm Lisa. Let's go.
Josh: Lisa, you gotta stop getting too close to the camera. You're pretty much coming through the camera at a certain point.
Lisa: Maybe. Fingers crossed. I mean, wouldn't that be pretty cool though?
Josh: Depending on your perspective, but sure. Okay, so, all right, Lisa.
Lisa: Okay.
Josh: So we are Episode 10. We are now in double digits officially.
Lisa: Double digits, Josh! Look at us. I mean, look at us. Ten. I love it.
Josh: So I started from the bottom, now we're here. Okay.
Lisa: Now we are. Mm-hmm.
Josh: All righty, so Lisa, this week we're talking about kind of a little bit of a strange moment in the application process. So in the previous episodes that we've done, we've talked about different parts of the process, and then last week we talked about the different decisions and submitting the applications. So now the applications are in, they're submitted, they're done, and...
Lisa: And nothing. Crickets. So you spend months with this giant list of things that you have to do. And then suddenly now you have to wait. So sometimes you wait for a few weeks after you apply, because there are some schools that are rolling decisions, right? So sometimes after you apply, typically it's after September 1, then it's like four to six-ish weeks. There are some schools that you could start applying in July and you hear back in two or three weeks, which is awesome.
But for a lot of schools, if it's rolling, please give it at least till after September if you apply in August. So you have a few weeks. You have some that you might even apply in October or September or August or November, and you might not hear back till January, February, or March, which is a long time to wait. And we get it. This is truly the hardest part of the process.
Because we know how weird waiting feels. It's basically a hurry-up-and-wait situation.
Josh: Well, exactly. And for students, everything up to this point had a task attached to it, right? So you have to do this, you have to get this recommendation, you have to send this in, you have to fill out this form. Then you hit submit and all of a sudden everything just stops. Students are just kind of sitting there. Maybe some of those overeager students are refreshing the portals that they activated.
Lisa: Mm-hmm.
Josh: And like you said, you can wait as quickly as a few weeks or a few months, or all the way until March of your senior year.
Lisa: I mean, Josh, you know what you could do? You could make the spreadsheet.
Josh: As we talked about last week, the spreadsheet is undefeated.
Lisa: I mean, obviously undefeated. The spreadsheet is your best friend. Your spreadsheet is undefeated. Listen, I am working on those stickers, y'all. Don't worry. So stay tuned. And also like and subscribe to our podcast on YouTube and Spotify and Apple Podcasts too.
All right, here we go. Coming back to where we were. So the waiting.
Josh: What was that?
Lisa: Listen, I am working on sounds now because you keep talking about sound effects, Josh. So I'm trying out different things. No, I can handle this.
Josh: We don't generate... they're not self-generated. We find them.
Lisa: Speak for yourself. They can be self-generated. We'll try it out. So we're gonna try that.
Okay, here we go. The wait is not the dead time. It feels like dead time, but it genuinely is a useful time to do meaningful things between now, once you apply, and when decisions come out. Because at that time, there are things that you can do that actually matter for your outcome and for the decisions that you will eventually have to make once you hear back from all of your colleges.
Josh: Exactly. And so that's what we're going to do today. We're going to talk about what you should actually be doing between application submission and decision day.
Lisa: And we are going to spend real time on two of my favorites: demonstrated interest and, if you can swing it, visiting colleges after you apply.
Josh: Yeah, and so including visiting some of those places that are maybe not exactly as high on your travel list.
Lisa: Hmm, could you mean going to Minnesota in February? I mean, y'all, who are we kidding? Even going to Minnesota in like mid-March.
Josh: Frigid. All right, Lisa, so let's do it.
Lisa: Cold. Mm-hmm. Okay, sounds like a plan.
Josh: Okay, so let's start with the thing students most want to hear, which is, is there anything that they can actually still do to help their chances after they submitted their application?
Lisa: And the answer is yes. And the biggest one is demonstrated interest.
Josh: Right. So yeah, demonstrated interest. So let's talk about that because it's one of those admissions terms that students hear sometimes in an admissions presentation, on a website, and it gets thrown around a lot, but no one actually really talks about what it means.
Lisa: Right. So demonstrated interest is basically, how does the college know that you actually like them? Not, I applied to you because you were number 11 on my Common App. Do they know who you are? Have you engaged with them? Have you shown, if they admit you, you're actually going to go there or that you want to go there?
Here's the important thing to remember about this part. Some colleges care about this a lot, and some colleges don't actually care at all. Josh, look at that. We have already made it to the "it depends" portion of our episode.
Josh: And here's why schools care about it. Colleges want to protect their yield. That's the percentage of admitted students who actually enroll. So if a school thinks that you're likely to say yes, that makes you a more attractive applicant to them. So demonstrated interest is how they gauge that.
Lisa: So Josh, what does it actually look like to wait? Because now that you've applied, what's left?
Josh: So a lot, actually. First, open the emails that they send you.
Lisa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Josh: This sounds almost too simple, but a lot of schools actually track whether you open their emails and click the links. Very Big Brother of them. So if a college is emailing you, engage with it. Check those emails. Click through those links.
Lisa: Follow them on social media and actually interact. Attend a virtual session if they offer one, even if it's after you apply. If they have a regional event near you, go. If an admissions officer for your school and your area reaches out to you, respond. And remember to do it thoughtfully and promptly.
Josh: Two keywords: thoughtfully and promptly. And also, Lisa, this is a great moment to talk about how demonstrated interest looks different depending on the school because it's not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Lisa: Josh, I think we are coming to this part of the podcast again where we can throw out some schools. So great point. Okay, so let's give examples that help make this real.
Josh: Okay, so let's take a school like Pitzer College. It's one of the Claremont Colleges out in California. So Pitzer is small, it has a very distinct identity, it cares deeply about social justice, environmental sustainability, students who genuinely align with their values.
So for a school like Pitzer, demonstrated interest isn't just about showing up at a giant football game, mainly because they don't have those. It's about showing that you actually understand and connect with what makes Pitzer Pitzer. So engaging with their specific programs, referencing their values in a way that's authentic and doesn't seem like you're just trying to say what you think they want to hear.
Lisa: And that's so different from a giant flagship like, let's say, University of Wisconsin, right? So Wisconsin is enormous. It's a huge public research university with tens of thousands of students. A school that big often can't or doesn't track individual demonstrated interest the same way a small college does. There's just simply too many applicants.
So spending energy trying to get an admissions officer or an admissions office at a massive public school to notice you is actually not where your efforts should go.
Josh: Well, exactly. So at the big public, like you just talked about, the demonstrated interest that matters is mostly just baked into the application itself. So did you write a specific, genuine "Why Us" essay? Did you apply to the right program? Whereas at a small school, those human, relational demonstrated-interest things that we talked about with Pitzer, they can actually carry some real weight.
Lisa: Look at you, Joshua. You were circling back to the "Why Us" essay. See, I love it when we can always go back to a podcast that we have already talked about.
Okay, so let's see. We've talked about Pitzer. We've talked about Wisconsin. I have one. This one's one of my faves. A school like Austin College. And no, I do not mean UT Austin. I think they get that a lot. I mean Austin College, the small private liberal arts school in Sherman, Texas. Go Roos! I just love that they're the Kangaroos. Listen, I love a good college mascot. But that's maybe another podcast.
Josh: We should actually, you know what? We should do a podcast on college mascots. Let's make that happen.
Lisa: Okay, so let's add that to our spreadsheet. Okay. So back to Austin College. So I think a lot of people, they've never heard of it. I know when we talk about it to families, especially I think more families in Texas have heard of it just because it's in Texas. But my families in Florida, they haven't heard of it. It's amazing, y'all. It's also a College That Changes Lives. It is a real hidden gem.
And side note, if you have not heard of the Colleges That Change Lives, you can actually go check out all 44 colleges at ctcl.org. I mean after the podcast, but you should go check it out. They are an amazing organization and all 44 schools are awesome.
A school like Austin College, a school that size, demonstrated interest is enormously important. They want students who chose them on purpose. So visiting, connecting with your admissions counselor, showing them exactly why you would thrive at a school like Austin College, that's the kind of genuine interest that can really move the needle.
Josh: Yeah, so the rule of thumb is the smaller and more distinctive the school, the more demonstrated interest tends to matter. So the bigger and more formula-driven the admissions process, the less individual demonstrated interest can move things. As always, check each school. So many of them actually tell in their Common Data Set that we mentioned before whether they consider level of applicant's interest.
Lisa: Y'all, this is one more thing that you should look up when you are looking at each school you're applying to. Because this process never stops asking you to do your homework.
So maybe the Common Data Set, Josh, I just thought about this. Maybe that should be information to add to your spreadsheet. So another column, another color code, Common Data Set information.
Josh: Or Lisa, instead of a... you can add another tab.
Lisa: It's not as fun, Josh.
Josh: Okay, we'll just put it out there. All righty, so switching gears.
Lisa: Listen, you're right. There's no bad ideas in brainstorming, right? So I'm not gonna bring an umbrella to the brainstorm. Okay, got it. You're right. A tab. Mm-hmm.
Josh: All right, so switching gears. Let's talk about the other big one in terms of demonstrated interest, which is visiting schools while you wait for your decision to come back.
Lisa: Yes. I love this because I think students think visiting you should only do before you apply. And that's not real. But visiting during the waiting time, like between submitting and hearing back, that is actually a really smart move.
Josh: Why is that, Lisa?
Lisa: A few reasons, Josh. Number one, if a school tracks demonstrated interest, a visit is one of the strongest signals you can send. Okay? Number two, and honestly just as important, is that you're about to potentially make a very fast and a very big decision in March or April. So it'll be here before you know it. I know that's a lot of waiting, but y'all, it will be here fast.
So what this means is that visiting now means you're not scrambling to evaluate schools during that really short window between decisions and the May 1st deadline.
Josh: Yeah, and speaking of visiting, here's one point about that that I'd really want to talk about and emphasize, because it's really the theme of the whole segment. Please, please, please visit schools in different climates.
Specifically, if you're a southern kid like myself, go visit a school up north in the winter. Don't fall for the fall, the golden leaves and everything, and the pumpkin spice lattes, or the nice springtime photo with everyone playing Frisbee on the lawn with the old-looking professor who looks like he can teach you something really nice. Go during the winter.
Lisa: I mean, Josh, this is real. Like, this is so real.
Josh: It is very real, students and parents. We work with a lot of students both here in Texas and in Florida. And here's what happens. They visit a beautiful northern campus in October. As I talked about, the leaves are turning. It's crisp. You got that pumpkin spice latte, like I talked about. It's gorgeous. Everyone's in the cute sweaters and whatever the latest fall fashion is. And it looks like a movie. It looks like what you think college should look like. And they fall in love.
Lisa: Right. And then they show up in January and it's 19 degrees. And there's gray snow.
Josh: Sometimes negative.
Lisa: Very true. Sometimes negative 19 degrees. And there is gray snow on the ground. And they have never in their life owned a real coat.
Josh: And the student who has worn shorts and flip-flops every single day of their life year-round suddenly finds out what a Wisconsin February actually looks like. And it's a genuine shock to the system.
Lisa: And we are not joking when we say this. This truly matters because climate is a real, legitimate fit factor. And it goes back to finding your fit, y'all. So we've had students who thought they wanted that classic snowy campus experience, visited in the actual cold, and realized, this isn't a two-week novelty and this is more like four or five months of my life every year for four years.
Josh: And now in fairness, the reverse can also be true. So some students, they will visit in the cold and they love it. They love the change in seasons, they love the snow, they can't wait to start the snowball fights. But you don't actually know which kind of student you are until you stand on that campus in March and there's snow on the ground.
Lisa: March, y'all. That's the thing that people don't realize. In a lot of northern states, weather isn't a December-through-February thing. It could be mid-October through sometimes April. There can absolutely still be snow on the ground in March when you're visiting for Admitted Students' Day.
So you could be walking into an info session wearing coats, boots, wool socks that you've probably never owned in your life, while your friends back home in Texas and in Florida especially, they're wearing shorts. And if that's a shock to you, it's better to know now and not later.
Josh: Exactly. And so students, if you've applied to schools in climates that you've never actually lived in, you can use this waiting period to go and experience the real thing. Not those glossy fall brochures that they send to you that trick you. So the actual walking to an 8 a.m. class in the cold, scraping ice off of your car or your shoes, et cetera, because you might be doing that for four years.
Lisa: And here's the beautiful part though. Even if you visit and it turns out that you hate the cold, that's not a wasted trip. That is you learning something crucial about yourself before you commit instead of after. So just like we always say, you don't know what you don't know. So go and experience it.
Josh: Great advice. Okay, Lisa, so let's rapid-fire a few more things that students can productively do while they wait, because there's more than just interest and visits.
Lisa: So number one, keep your grades up. Oh my gosh, sorry, when you said rapid-fire, I came in hot. Let me slow down. Number one, keep your grades up. And I'm gonna come back to this in one hot minute. Okay, because do I dare say this might be my hot take? So I'm gonna say it a little early. Okay.
Josh: Okay.
Lisa: Colleges see your final transcript. Actually, in some cases, they could see your mid-year report. So an acceptance, it can be rescinded if your senior grades fall off a cliff. So this is not optional.
I think I talked about this in one of our previous podcasts, but I've had two students in my 25-plus years. One, their offer was actually rescinded a week before they left for orientation, y'all. So we are talking about in June.
Josh: Mm, that hurts.
Lisa: It hurts. Now, there were some big grade falls there, right? So it wasn't just one grade, it was multiple grades. And they did get senioritis.
And then I've had one student where they went from all A's to one A, three B's, and two C's. And a college, a very selective college, saw that and actually sent a letter to us in the college counseling office and their parents and the school's principal and let them know that they saw that and knew that they probably were struggling, but they're basically going to give them a semester, a probation period, to see if that's who they truly are, or were they just having a bad semester and a bad case of senioritis?
So keep that in mind, y'all. Senioritis is real. Do not get it.
Josh: Yeah, sound advice. Another thing students can do, well, actually they can remind their college counseling offices to do, is to submit their mid-year report and any other updates that the college is requesting, and do those things on time.
So if the college needs a mid-year transcript, make sure the high school sends it out. And if something genuinely significant happens after you apply, you get a major award, you have a new major leadership role, or some other substantial accomplishment comes down for you after you've already submitted the application, some schools do allow you to submit a brief update letter.
So not anything that's just fluff or you're just kind of sending something to send something, but actual tangible, real things.
Lisa: And keep an eye out on your application portals and in your email because schools sometimes request additional information or they flag a missing document or they even offer an interview. So if you miss that email, you could miss an opportunity. So check regularly.
Also, kind of a side note, remember that it could take up to two weeks for your student portal to update. Y'all, this goes back to waiting. I know we are used to this instant or immediate answer, but it could take a little longer.
And typically it takes up to two weeks once you submit something or add something to your portal to show up. So maybe this is a good reminder. Don't freak out and go into your high school college counseling office and ask them why they didn't send something. Calm down, because they did more than likely send it.
So ask. Be curious. Don't be judgmental. That is another little hot take. That is two hot takes. Look at me.
Josh: Wasn't that a Ted Lasso deal?
Lisa: Yes, it was. Yep.
Josh: Wow, that was from season one when he did the dart deal. The Walt Whitman quote. Okay, well.
Lisa: It was. And listen, it's so true in life, right? I wish everybody could be more curious and not judgmental. So just a little thing.
Josh: Is another T-shirt loading?
Lisa: Josh, you said it, I didn't. But yeah, another T-shirt.
Josh: It was going to be said eventually. I just decided to get out in front of the train.
Anyway, other things that students can do. So students, if a college offers you an optional interview during this waiting period and it's something that you can reasonably do, we recommend that you take the interview.
One quick caveat here. In my time working with students, some students are better suited to interview than others.
Lisa: Mm-hmm.
Josh: So just because a college has offered you the opportunity to do it and even if you have the chance to do it, you may want to sit down with your parents and with your college counselor first to decide, is this something that you should do?
Lisa: And if you do it, maybe try a mock interview session with someone, right?
Josh: Mm-hmm.
Lisa: Have them ask you some questions or just get comfortable talking about yourself. And always, always go to the interview with questions that you can ask them at the end. Because here's the thing, y'all. You are also interviewing them.
So yes, they're interviewing you, but you're getting to know, hey, is this school truly a good fit for me? Because it's just another opportunity to show your interest and to take something back with you that you can think about before decisions are made.
Josh: Yeah, that's a great way to reframe that, to remind the students that they're also interviewing the college as well.
Another big one: financial aid. So this is huge. So students, during this waiting period after you've already submitted the application, make sure that your FAFSA is done.
So if your college requires a CSS Profile, make sure that that's done too. So you want to check each school's financial aid requirements and their deadlines because what we don't want to have happen is for March to arrive and now you're trying to compare two offers except one financial aid package is missing because somebody forgot to send a form in.
Lisa: Because that would mean you have a bad spreadsheet.
Josh: Very, very bad spreadsheet. And the last one in terms of our quick hitters: go be a senior.
Lisa: Yes, go be a senior!
Josh: Yep. So you're in this strange limbo where there isn't much left for you to do or control. And so refreshing Reddit, refreshing your application portal, going to College Confidential, please do not go to College Confidential. That's not gonna make March come any faster.
Lisa: Y'all, you did the work. Your applications are in. You're gonna keep your grades up. You're gonna handle the things you're supposed to handle. You're gonna go visit if you can, and then you're gonna learn about the schools.
But also go to that game on Friday nights. Go to the dinner with your friends. Enjoy your senior year. We know the waiting is uncomfortable, but that does not mean it has to consume you.
Josh: And it doesn't have to be wasted time either.
Lisa: Exactly. Exactly.
Josh: All righty, so Hot Take or Hard Truth time, Lisa. But it sounds like you already preemptively did yours, but I'm gonna give you another opportunity here.
Lisa: I did, but here's where I come back and visit it. Okay, so buckle up, y'all, because this is a real one.
Senioritis is going to come for every single one of you. No one is immune. No one is going to escape it. I don't care how motivated you are right now. The second those applications are submitted, your brain is going to whisper, "You're done. You earned this. Just coast."
You're not gonna coast. You need to hear us. You are not done. Most colleges see your mid-year report, like Josh said. They see your final transcript. Acceptances get rescinded every single year over senior grades.
So senioritis, it's not a myth. It's not a joke. It's absolutely going to knock at your door. The only question is whether you let it in. So ride it out. Finish strong.
Do not let the last stretch of senior year undo two and a half years of all of your hard work.
Josh: Wow. Okay, Lisa.
Lisa: Woo! Man!
Josh: That was a fantastic hot take and super accurate.
Lisa: Thank you! I feel like that might have been my best hot take yet. So it just took ten episodes. Maybe?
Josh: Hey, I'm still working on mine. So I'm gonna try.
My hot take this week is about demonstrated interest. So students, demonstrated interest is not about tricking a college into liking you.
It's about being honest about the schools you actually like. So students sometimes try to game it. They try to spread fake enthusiasm across the different schools they apply to. That's exhausting. And it doesn't work.
So the students who do it well are the ones who are genuinely engaging with the handful of schools they actually care about. If you have to fake interest in a school, that's useful information to you because maybe that school didn't belong on your list in the first place.
Lisa: Josh, see, that's a good one. I think that's probably one of your best. I mean, genuine interest, y'all. It can't be faked and it shouldn't have to be.
Josh: It definitely shouldn't have to be. All righty, so Drop the Mic. Lisa, I'm gonna give you the floor first.
Lisa: Okay, thank you, sir. All right, here is mine. So students, lock in.
The wait feels like the part of the process where you have no control. And we understand why. You've done the work, you've written your essay, you've filled out applications, you've submitted, you've handled everything like you should have, or hopefully you should have.
And now it feels like your entire future is sitting in someone else's inbox. But the wait is not nothing. It's a window. Use it.
Show genuine interest in the schools you genuinely love. Go to that event. Open the email. Ask the question. Go visit the campus if you can. Take care of the financial pieces. Make sure you know what each school still needs from you.
Most importantly, take care of yourself because students who handle the wait well are not the ones that are refreshing a portal 40 times a day or trying to decode Reddit, trying to figure out, "Oh my gosh, when are decisions gonna come out?"
They are the ones who keep living their lives. They stay engaged in school, they spend time with their friends, and they stay curious about the choices that might be in front of them.
The goal is not just to make it to decision day. The goal is to walk into March knowing a little bit more about your schools, a little bit more about what you actually want, and hopefully a little bit more about yourself than you did when you hit submit in October or November.
Josh: That was pretty good. Okay. And so my final thought for students this week.
The wait is not the process happening to you. It's the last stretch of the process still happening with you.
Lisa: Mm.
Josh: And I think that's an important distinction because it's really easy to hand over your applications and think, "Well, that's it. Now colleges decide what happens to me." But students, you're still making decisions too.
You're still learning about these schools. You're still figuring out which things you thought mattered actually do matter, and which things maybe don't matter as much now that you've seen them up close.
You might visit a campus and you fall even more in love with it. You might visit and realize, "You know what? I don't think this is my vibe." Both of those are good outcomes because now you know more than you did when you hit submit.
And while you're doing that, your life as a senior is still happening. Your grades still matter. Your relationships still matter. The things you care about still matter. Senior year still matters.
So don't spend the next three months acting like your entire future is sitting behind a login screen somewhere. Stay in it. Stay engaged. Keep learning about your options. But also keep living your life.
Because when those decisions finally do come, the goal isn't just to be ready to open them. The goal is to be ready to look at the choices in front of you and say, "Okay, I know more about these schools. I know more about what I want. And honestly, I know a little bit more about myself."
That's when you're actually ready to choose.
Lisa: Right. So use the wait. Don't just survive it. Whew, Josh, that definitely was your number one that you've said so far. Good job.
Josh: I don't know, we'll see. Maybe Episode 11 will be our best one yet. And speaking of Episode 11, so next week on Drop In, the decisions start coming in, and with them three words that carry a whole lot of emotion: accepted, denied, and I would say the most confounding one of all, deferred.
Lisa: Ugh. Deferred. See, it just gives me a pit in my stomach.
Listen, y'all, we are gonna talk about what each one actually means, what to do next, and especially how to handle a deferral or a waitlist without immediately deciding that the world is ending. We promise you the world is not ending.
Josh: Right, because a deferral is not a no and there are still real, productive things that you can do.
Lisa: Correct. Right. Kiddos, this is one where actually what you do next really does matter. So come back next week and listen.
We're Decision Drop, making your college journey collaborative, simple, but most importantly, yours.
If you want us to help your kiddo make that wait actually work for them, showing genuine interest in the right way, planning smart campus visits before that snow melts, and keeping their grades and their sanity intact all the way to March, head over to decisiondrop.com and check us out. And don't forget, like and subscribe.
Josh: What she said.
Lisa: See you next week.
