Episode 21: What Happens After You Submit Your College Application?

Nov 6

Episode Description:

In Episode 21 of Drop In, Lisa and Josh answer the question every senior asks after hitting submit: “Okay... now what?” As former admissions officers at highly selective universities, the Decision Drop co-founders pull back the curtain on the college admissions review process and explain what really happens to your application at colleges and universities everywhere.

Who reads your application? What does holistic review mean? Can you send an update or fix a mistake? What should you do while you wait? And what is actually happening inside the admissions office while your portal seems very, very quiet?

If you want to go even deeper into the process, this week's companion article, What Happens After You Submit Your College Application? Inside the Admissions Review Process, walks through how application files are assembled, how admissions offices review them, what happens with mid-year reports and deferrals, and what students and parents should be doing while colleges make decisions. Our earlier guide, What to Do After Submitting College Applications, is also a useful practical checklist for staying on top of portals, grades, updates, testing, and the rest of senior year.

Why Does My Portal Say “Missing”?

Your application file may still be incomplete after you hit submit. Depending on the college, admissions may also need your transcript, school report, counselor or teacher recommendations, test scores, or other supporting materials before your file is ready for review.

So if you open your applicant portal and see MISSING next to your transcript, do not immediately assume something went wrong. Colleges may be processing thousands of documents at once, and a transcript that was sent yesterday may simply be waiting to be matched to your file.

Check the college's stated processing timeline before following up. If the document is still missing after that window, then contact your counselor or the admissions office with the facts you have. And yes, please check your spam folder too. Portal emails have an impressive ability to hide themselves exactly when you need them.

Who Reads Your College Application?

Here comes our favorite answer: it depends.

At many colleges, your first reader may be the admissions representative assigned to your geographic region. That could be the same person who visited your high school, attended your local college fair, or works regularly with your school counselor.

Regional admissions representatives may already understand your high school's curriculum, grading system, available courses, and general context. Depending on the college, your application may then receive a second read or move into an admissions committee where multiple members of the admissions team discuss applicants.

And yes, admissions officers can disagree about a student.

How Long Do Admissions Officers Spend Reading Applications?

There is no universal number. A large university reviewing tens of thousands of applications may use a very different process from a smaller college with a more limited applicant pool.

What students should understand is that clarity matters. An admissions reader needs to understand who you are and what matters to you without having to decode your application. They are also probably not spending the same 17 hours your family spent discussing whether one comma belonged in paragraph three.

Once you have submitted, let the application do the job you built it to do.

What Does Holistic Review Really Mean?

Holistic review means your application is not reduced to one number.

Your academic record still matters a lot. Admissions officers may look closely at your grades, course rigor, academic trends, and the classes available at your high school. They may also consider your essays, activities, recommendation letters, responsibilities, and the larger context surrounding your experience.

That word we use constantly at Decision Drop? Context.

Taking all three AP courses your high school offers tells a very different story from taking three AP courses at a school that offers 25. Comparing schedules between students at different schools only tells you so much because admissions officers are evaluating each student within the opportunities available to them.

This is also why a student can be completely qualified for a college and still be denied. At highly selective institutions, there may be thousands of applicants who are capable of succeeding academically. Admissions offices are not simply deciding who is qualified. They are building a class, and that class may be shaped by academic programs, geography, athletics, enrollment goals, financial considerations, or other institutional priorities that families cannot see from outside the process.

That uncertainty is one reason Lisa and Josh talk so often about building a balanced college list.

Can I Send an Update After I Submit?

Maybe.

If something genuinely new and meaningful happens after you submit, some colleges may allow you to send an update. A major award, a significant new leadership role, an important academic achievement, or another substantial development may be worth sharing.

Before sending anything, check the college's policy first. Some schools welcome updates. Others specifically tell applicants not to submit additional information.

And please do not send admissions a weekly newsletter because you are nervous. An A on one chemistry quiz or the score from Friday night's soccer game usually does not require its own application update. Meaningful is the key word.

What If I Find a Mistake?

First, decide whether it is actually a mistake that matters.

A tiny typo? Try to let it go. No one is denying you because you typed “the” twice or suddenly decided you hate a comma.

But if you discover a real factual error, such as an incorrect grade, test score, course, or other important piece of information, send a short and polite correction using the method the college requests.

Also remember that changing something in the Common App after submitting generally affects future applications. It does not automatically change the application a college has already received.

What About AI?

There are two sides to this conversation.

Students need to understand each college's AI policy before using AI in an application. There is a significant difference between using a tool to help brainstorm or check something and asking it to write your application for you, and colleges do not all draw that line in exactly the same place.

Admissions offices themselves are also beginning to explore AI tools in different parts of their work, so the technology is affecting both sides of the process.

Through all of it, one thing still matters: your human voice.

AI can make writing polished. It can make a sentence sound sophisticated. But admissions officers are trying to understand the person behind the application. Your sense of humor, the details you notice, the stories only you can tell, and the way you naturally think are much harder to replicate.

We will take a slightly imperfect sentence that sounds like you over a perfect paragraph that sounds like nobody every single time.

What Should You Do While You Wait?

Once you submit, there is a point where you have to stop trying to control an application you no longer control.

That does not mean ignoring the process. Check your applicant portals and email. Make sure required documents arrive. Keep your grades strong. Finish any remaining applications. Stay on top of scholarship and financial aid deadlines. If you are deferred, follow the college's instructions and decide whether there is meaningful new information worth sending.

But rereading your submitted application at midnight looking for a typo is not productive. Refreshing the portal 17 times a day is not productive. Trying to figure out whether your regional admissions officer has read your file yet is definitely not productive.

Put your energy toward the parts of senior year you can still affect.

Decision Drop's senior-year college counseling continues after applications are submitted, including help with application updates, deferrals, waitlists, financial aid comparisons, and final college decisions.

And when decisions start arriving, remember that one college decision does not define you. An acceptance does not suddenly make you smarter than you were five minutes earlier, and a denial does not make you less talented, interesting, hardworking, or capable.

It means one college, building one class, in one year, made one decision.

If a school you really wanted says no, you are allowed to be disappointed. Feel it. Be mad. Eat the ice cream. Go to Whataburger. Then come back to the list, because you built that list with more than one possible happy ending for a reason.

The goal was never to have one college validate everything you have done. The goal is to find the place where you get to go do what comes next.

If you have already hit submit and want Lisa and Josh in your corner while you navigate portals, updates, mistakes, deferrals, decisions, or simply the waiting, connect with Decision Drop.

In This Episode

What happens after you submit a college application
How applicant portals work
Why transcripts and other documents may temporarily appear missing
Who actually reads your college application
What regional admissions representatives do
How long admissions officers may spend reviewing applications
What holistic review really means
How high school context affects admissions
What happens in an admissions committee
Why qualified students can still be denied
When to send a college an application update
What to do if you find a mistake after submitting
How AI is affecting college applications and admissions
What institutional priorities mean
What students should focus on while waiting for decisions

🎙️ Also available on: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeart

Chapters

00:00 – What Happens After You Submit Your College Application?
02:48 – Is Someone Reading Your Application Right Away?
06:03 – Who Actually Reads Your College Application?
07:36 – How Long Do Admissions Officers Spend on Your File?
08:27 – What Does Holistic Review Really Mean?
09:44 – Inside the Admissions Committee Room
10:41 – Why Qualified Students Still Get Denied
12:57 – What If You Find a Mistake After Submitting?
14:02 – AI & College Admissions
16:51 – Institutional Priorities & Building a Class
18:36 – Hot Take: Stop Trying to Control the Application
21:08 – Drop the Mic: Let Admissions Do Their Job
23:57 – Next Week: Summer Programs, Jobs & What Actually Matters

Read the Full Episode 21 Transcript

Josh (00:20)
Every week we drop the noise.

Lisa (00:21)
Drop the stress.

Josh (00:22)
And drop some knowledge.

Lisa (00:23)
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 guide your family through this process personally, head to decisiondrop.com and check us out. And please like and subscribe.

Josh (00:39)
Josh.

Lisa (00:40)
I'm Lisa. Let's go. Whoo, did you like that? There was no like woo this time. It was like...

Josh (00:47)
Perfect mix, perfect mix. So yes.

Lisa (00:49)
I'll take it.

Josh (00:50)
All righty, Lisa. Okay, so we have arrived at a very, very specific moment that every senior goes through. Their applications, hopefully, knock on wood, are done.

They've checked those same applications approximately 14 times.

You know, the cursor is sort of sitting there on the submit button. Maybe they get up, walk around, come back, check the screen again and make sure.

And then finally, maybe after some coaxing, they hit submit.

Lisa (01:17)
Right, and then for about three seconds, you all feel amazing.

Josh (01:21)
Three?

Lisa (01:22)
Okay, fine, maybe two seconds because then you immediately go back and reread that essay that you have read seven hundred times. And then you find a typo and then you decide that your entire future is ruined.

Josh (01:38)
Seniors, this happens every year.

Lisa (01:40)
Every year. It really does. And listen, kiddo, here's the secret. Please stop reopening the PDF looking for things to panic about. Don't do it.

Josh (01:49)
Exactly. Great advice.

So today we're going behind the curtain. Once that application leaves your laptop, your tablet, or your phone, what actually happens to it? Who reads it? How many people see it? How long are they spending with it? What does the term holistic review actually mean? And what role does the admissions rep who visited your school play in that?

Lisa (02:09)
Plus, what can you still do once you hit submit? So can you send an update? What if you actually find a mistake? Y'all, like a real mistake, not one that you made up in the dream or the nightmare that you had the night before.

And because it is 2026, we are obviously going to talk about AI. So how students are using it, how colleges may be using it, and then why your actual human voice really still matters.

So basically today we are answering the questions all the seniors are wanting to ask the second they submit. Okay, now what?

Josh (02:46)
Yeah, that's a perfect place to start.

Lisa (02:48)
Right, I think so too. So let's say I hit submit at 9:42 PM. Is someone in admissions opening my application at 9:43 PM?

Josh (02:59)
No.

Lisa (03:00)
Okay. Whew.

Josh (03:01)
Yeah, so seniors, everything has to come together. The application, the thing that you hit submit on, is one piece of your application file.

There are other pieces. So depending on the schools you apply to, they may need your official high school transcript, a school report, your counselor and teacher recommendations, test scores if you plan to submit those versus if you're going test optional.

So all of those pieces need to be matched to your application.

Lisa (03:27)
Which brings us back to everybody's favorite little anxiety machine, the applicant, or some schools will call it the student portal.

Josh (03:36)
Yes, we have discussed portals before.

Lisa (03:38)
Yes, we have, y'all, because apparently portals have decided to become a recurring character on this podcast, along with "It Depends." We're seeing that so much.

Remember that most colleges will send you information to create a portal after you apply. Sometimes it's immediate, sometimes it's 24 hours, other times it could take up to 48 hours.

So get the email, set it up, check it. Don't just set it up and leave it there.

And please, please check your spam folder too. Because every year somebody will come and tell us, "I never got my portal email."

And there it was sitting between your Anthropologie sales code and a "your package has shipped" email. Or maybe that's in my spam folder. I don't know.

Josh (04:24)
Exactly. So I think you're telling on yourself versus giving actual instructions to kids.

So once you're in those portals, you may see that something is marked missing.

Okay, this is important. This is where I want everyone to remember that we talked about this a few episodes ago. If you've logged into your portal and you see the word, usually in blood red, "missing," don't immediately assume that something went wrong.

Lisa (04:49)
Remember, if your counselor sent the transcript yesterday and your portal says missing today, give the college a minute, y'all.

They are processing thousands of documents. Missing may mean we have not matched it to your name yet. It does not automatically mean your counselor did not send what you thought they sent.

Josh (05:12)
Exactly. And so if the things that are labeled missing stay missing after the college's stated processing window, then you follow up with your counselor.

But your follow-up is calm, polite, and you're bringing the counselor factual information.

Lisa (05:27)
Look at us. Look at us, Josh. We are circling back again.

Yes. Get facts before you decide that you have a disaster on your hands. Very important.

Josh (05:37)
Yes, exactly. And then once all of those pieces are together, the things we just talked about, then the application becomes complete and then it heads into the reading process.

Lisa (05:48)
All right. So in our scenario, Josh, the student's applied. They are now waiting. They got the email. It might have been in their spam, so they checked that.

They filled out their portal. They're now checking their portal regularly. So who actually opens up the application and reads it?

Josh (06:03)
Yes, well we'll go back to one of our favorite phrases. It depends.

Lisa (06:08)
It depends, yes.

Josh (06:10)
Yes, it depends on the type of college the student is applying to.

But generally speaking, the first person who's reading the application is the admissions representative who's assigned to your geographic region.

That's probably going to be that person that you met at your high school, at the college fair in your area, or at one of those group meetings at area hotels.

They're known as your regional representative.

Lisa (06:31)
So this is why we say it's very important for your kiddos, when that representative comes to your school, say hello.

Even if you cannot stay the whole time, like let's say you have a quiz, or maybe your teacher really does not want you missing class that day, that's okay. College reps know that.

So go in, say hello, get a card, get their information.

And then maybe circle back and remind them who you are. Or if you're at a college fair, introduce yourself.

This may be the person that is actually going to read your application.

And depending on your school, they may know your school really, really well. They may know your high school counselor really, really well. And they may have even read or are going to read applications from your school. So it's important.

Josh (07:17)
Yeah, it is very important.

And at many colleges, there's gonna be more than one person who's gonna read your file.

So sometimes there's a person who does a first read and then someone else comes behind them to do a second read.

And then even at some other schools, applications go through a committee-based evaluation where multiple admissions officers are discussing a student's application.

Lisa (07:36)
And I think that's where families always tend to ask us, so how long are they actually spending on my student's application?

And here we go again, drum roll, the favorite answer will be it depends.

Josh (07:51)
It depends.

Lisa (07:52)
Yes, y'all. At a large university, remember they are reading tens of thousands of applications. So it may relatively be a pretty short read.

But at a smaller college, someone may spend more time.

But either way, we promise you they are not spending the 17 hours your family spent debating whether that comma belongs in paragraph three.

Josh (08:16)
Yeah, that sounds pretty unhealthy. So would not recommend.

But students, that's why clarity also matters. So the reader needs to understand who you are without having to decode your application.

Lisa (08:27)
And this is where we get to the holistic review because that phrase gets thrown around a lot.

Josh (08:33)
Yes. And simply put, holistic review means that your application is not reduced to a single number.

So your academic record, your transcript, all those things, that's usually a major part of the evaluation process.

But someone who's reading your application through a holistic review process can also consider your course rigor, your essays, your activities, your counselor and teacher recommendation letters, and, as Lisa pointed out, the context of your high school.

Lisa (09:00)
The context again, one of our favorite words here on the pod.

I'm gonna throw that name around to see if we think that's gonna stick. The pod.

Josh (09:08)
Boy. Yeah. I'm not... yeah. Let's keep going.

Lisa (09:14)
Okay, I tried it.

All right. So the counselor sends a school profile that explains what your school offers.

If your high school offers three APs and you took all three APs, that really tells the reader something.

Josh (09:25)
Right. And conversely, if your school offers 25 APs, that's a very different story.

Lisa (09:30)
So this is where we tell families all the time, remember, stop comparing your kiddo's schedule to a kid at another high school down the road or in another state.

Because that is not the context at all. Those are not apples to apples.

Josh (09:44)
Exactly. And then you also have something known as the committee room.

Lisa (09:49)
The committee room. This is the part where families, I think, picture a super giant courtroom-like thing.

Josh (09:56)
Yeah. So it's less dramatic than that, not quite Law & Order.

Lisa (09:59)
That's true. Usually it's less dramatic. I'm sure there are some schools out there that are like that, but I believe that's an exception to a rule.

Josh (10:08)
Yeah, I would agree with that. At least I hope that's right.

If the school does use a committee, essentially what that means is that there's an admissions officer who is presenting a student's application file to other members of the admissions team.

And yes, that does mean that sometimes admissions officers can disagree about a student.

Lisa (10:24)
True, which is why giving your reader something real to hold on to really matters.

So a clear academic story, an essay that makes them understand you, something that allows the reader to say, "Wait, I really like this kid. And here is why."

Josh (10:41)
Yes, but that also brings us to one of the hardest questions that we get in admissions.

My student was qualified. Why didn't they get in?

Lisa (10:50)
And sometimes, y'all, the answer is simply because there were way too many qualified kiddos for those seats.

And we know that does not feel good.

But at highly selective colleges, especially, there can be thousands of students that can do the work, but they cannot admit all of them. It's not gonna happen.

Josh (11:09)
And so for seniors and parents, it's very important to understand that admissions is not just determining who's qualified.

They're tasked with building a class.

Lisa (11:18)
Y'all, this is why every single time we say build a balanced list.

Because we never want one college decision to have the power to decide whether this process feels successful to you or not.

Josh (11:31)
Okay, Lisa. I would say these are probably the two most popular questions that we get.

The first is, can I send an update?

The second is, I found a mistake. What do I do?

Lisa (11:41)
All right, so y'all, updates first.

If something new and actually meaningful happens to you after you submit, yes, there may be a reason to tell colleges.

Maybe you won an award, or maybe you stepped into a significant leadership role.

Before you send anything, though, check the college's policy because some schools welcome the updates while some schools do not.

But I can tell you that the schools will say exactly what they will accept and what they want you not to send.

So some really don't want anything besides what they asked at the initial part of you submitting an application.

And then don't just think, "My gosh, I need to send you something because I'm nervous," because you don't.

Some schools will not want to see that.

Josh (12:33)
Yes, super important. And meaningful, the word you use there, is very, very important to highlight.

Lisa (12:39)
So don't just send an admissions weekly newsletter.

"Hello again, just letting you know I got an A on my chemistry quiz or we won our soccer game tonight."

No, don't do that.

Josh (12:50)
Yeah, one useful, meaningful update. We don't need a running commentary on the rest of your senior year.

Lisa (12:57)
Exactly.

Okay, so that was our update. So now let's think about mistakes.

First, if you read one tiny typo after you hit submit, please just let it go.

We know that is hard. I know that would be hard for me, but you have to let it go.

Josh (13:15)
Yes, super important. Students, no one is denying you because you accidentally typed "the" twice.

Lisa (13:21)
So do not send admissions an email to confess a misplaced comma.

But if it is a real factual mistake, a wrong grade or a wrong test score or a wrong piece of information, send it.

Brief, polite, no dramatic explanation.

Maybe just a simple, "Hi, I noticed an error and I would really like to provide a correction to my application."

See? Done and done.

Josh (13:47)
Exactly. And students, remember that changing something in the Common App after you've already hit submit, it generally affects future submissions, not the application that a school already received.

So fix it before sending the next one.

Lisa (14:01)
Very true.

Josh (14:02)
Okay, Lisa, now a big one. AI.

We can't do an episode about what happens in admissions in the year of our Lord 2026 and not talk about AI.

And in order to do this, we're gonna break it up into two separate conversations, right?

You mentioned this at the top of the episode.

The first conversation is students using AI.

And then the second conversation is colleges using AI and how they do that.

Lisa (14:29)
Okay, so let's break it down.

So number one, on the student side, there is a big difference between using a tool to help you brainstorm or even check grammar issues than if you are asking it to write the application for you.

And beware though, some schools will not let you even use it for brainstorming or punctuation and grammar.

Josh (14:51)
And here's the part that we care most about, right?

AI can make something sound polished. It can make something sound impressive.

But admissions officers are not sitting there asking themselves, who's using that $10 vocabulary?

They're trying to figure out who you are.

And if your essay sounds like a 42-year-old communications director, but the rest of your application sounds like the 17-year-old you actually are, that's not helping you.

Lisa (15:17)
No. So your application, y'all, needs to be consistent with your actual voice.

And they can tell that because they will read other parts of your application.

I will tell you a thousand times, we will take a slightly imperfect sentence that sounds like you over a perfect paragraph that sounds like absolutely no one every single time.

Josh (15:40)
And on the college side, some admissions offices have begun exploring using AI tools for part of their evaluation process.

But how that looks can vary by institution to institution. So again, a variation of it depends.

Lisa (15:53)
And we think it's completely fair to ask a college how they use it.

Some will be very, very upfront how they do it. Others maybe not, because the world is changing fast.

So ask the question and also read what the school publishes. That's very important.

Because if you don't and you do something that they don't like, then a college will know that you are not researching them enough.

Josh (16:14)
Exactly. And it could negatively impact your application as well.

So you always want to make sure that you're reading the policies that the schools are publishing themselves.

But the most important piece of information for students to remember is that admissions remains a human process.

So colleges who are evaluating your applications, they're trying to understand your thinking, they're trying to understand your experiences, the choices you've been making, and the person behind the application.

So essentially, who are you?

Lisa (16:43)
So that I think sums up this perfectly.

You matter more in this age of AI, not less.

So keep that in mind.

Josh (16:51)
Right.

So Lisa, before we wrap, there's one more thing that I think we both want every senior to hear because decisions are gonna start coming in.

Lisa (16:59)
And some of them probably very, very soon if you haven't already started receiving them yet.

Josh (17:04)
Yes. The message is, basically, colleges obviously can be great experiences, they can be wonderful communities, but they are institutions with institutional priorities.

And we've used that word before at various points in the podcast.

So when they're building a class, they're not only asking themselves, is this student qualified?

They're also asking, what does our institution need?

Lisa (17:27)
You do not get to see that list.

Some colleges might tell you, well, last year we admitted this many students and these were their majors.

So you might can detect they're probably gonna want students that are interested in other majors that they didn't really necessarily fill a class with the year before.

Or maybe they need students that they're trying to build geographic diversity.

Or maybe they need an oboe player.

Maybe they need a goalie on their soccer team or hockey team.

Or maybe they have enrollment goals or financial realities your family knows nothing about.

Josh (18:04)
That's super important context, Lisa, because that's why a decision can sometimes feel confusing if you're on the outside of that to students and families.

So you only know the student, parents.

The college knows the whole applicant pool and its own priorities, which again, as you point out, Lisa, many schools don't share those with students and families.

Lisa (18:22)
And this is why we keep saying, do your research, see what information they're gonna give you, go to that Common Data Set, and then have a balanced list, y'all.

There you go. That's all you can do.

Hit submit.

And then I know it's a hurry-up-and-wait situation, but there you go.

Josh (18:36)
Lisa, so we're going to transition into Hot Take or Hard Truth.

Lisa (18:40)
Mine's gonna be for seniors today.

Once you hit submit, please stop trying to control an application you no longer can control.

I know that's hard, y'all.

You have spent months on this thing. You have edited your essays, you've rearranged your activities.

You checked every box and now suddenly it feels like you're sitting somewhere where someone else has it in their hands.

And it truly is that.

I know that feels weird, but rereading your application at midnight looking for that typo is not productive.

Refreshing that portal 17 times a day is not productive.

Trying to figure out whether that admissions counselor has read it yet is definitely not productive.

Josh (19:25)
Yes, you can't reverse engineer the reading queue.

Lisa (19:28)
Exactly.

So put the worry where the weight is.

Are your grades still strong?

Do you have any other applications left to apply?

Are there scholarship deadlines that are coming up?

Did you actually enjoy your weekend?

I don't know. Were you a kid? Did you have fun?

Those are the things that you can still do something about.

You did your part. Let the application go and do its job.

Josh (19:52)
Yeah. Excellent. Excellent. I think that's very sound advice.

So my hot take is gonna go back to something we talked about earlier.

Students, stop trying so hard to sound impressive.

And I know AI makes that advice even more important now.

We just talked about that in the earlier segment.

There are endless tools that can make a sentence sound polished, sophisticated, impressive, whatever words you want to use, pick it.

That is no longer particularly hard.

What is hard to replicate is an actual person.

Your sense of humor, the weird details that you notice, the stories only you can tell, the way that you think about something.

The more memorable application is not necessarily the one with the biggest words or the most accomplishments that are crammed in every single one of those activities boxes.

It's the one where by the end the reader feels like they understand the applicant.

So don't polish yourself right out of your own application.

Lisa (20:47)
Ooh, I like that, Josh.

Yes, y'all, do not polish yourself right out of your own application.

That is definitely going on the merch spreadsheet. Right?

Josh (20:58)
I think that's a pretty good one. All right.

Lisa (20:59)
Okay. And do you feel better because it was your idea? It's your thought?

Josh (21:02)
Why yes I do, Lisa, actually.

If I had a tie I'd adjust it, but now it just looks like I'm pulling on my shirt. Anyway.

Lisa (21:08)
Sure, sure.

All right. So let's do Drop the Mic. Josh, you may go first.

Josh (21:14)
Alrighty.

So, seniors, you did the work.

At some point, you have to let the people on the other side of the process do theirs.

And I think that can actually be freeing for you.

You controlled the classes you took, you controlled the effort you put into your grades, you controlled what you did outside the classroom, you controlled the applications you submitted and the story that you chose to tell.

Now, and this is the hard part, somebody else has to read it and make a decision.

You can't control what that school needs this year.

You can't control how many applications they receive or who else applied.

And you can't control the priorities sitting in that committee room.

So once you do hit submit, give yourself permission to be done with that application.

Keep doing good work, of course. Keep being a senior.

And let the admissions committees do their jobs.

Lisa (22:03)
One thousand percent.

If we had the sound effect of everyone going, yay, yay, clappy.

Josh (22:09)
If only.

Man, it's like, I wonder if there was someone who was talking about getting sound effects. Can we find that person?

I'm gonna, after this, I'm gonna go find him. I feel like he was around here somewhere.

Lisa (22:16)
I know, and I just did this to myself.

Josh (22:18)
I'm gonna go find him because I feel like he was around here somewhere. Anyway.

Lisa (22:24)
And as soon as I just started word-vomiting that, I was hearing myself and just wishing I could put it back in.

Josh (22:29)
Just saying.

Lisa (22:30)
But so true, Josh.

All right. Okay, so mine is also for kiddos who are going to start getting your decisions back very, very soon.

Keep this in mind, y'all.

A college decision is information.

It does not get to define you.

Please, please remember that.

An acceptance does not suddenly make you smarter than you were five minutes ago.

And a denial does not make you less talented, less interesting, less hardworking, less worthy than you were five minutes earlier.

It means one college, building one class, in one year, made one decision.

That is all it means.

And yes, if a school that you really wanted to go to says no, you are allowed to be disappointed.

So sit in it, feel it, be mad, eat ice cream, or go to Whataburger. That's what I would do.

Do whatever you need to do, but then go back to your list because we built that list with more than one happy ending for a reason.

The goal was never to have one college validate everything you have done.

The goal is to find that place where you get to go do what comes next.

And we promise you there will be a next.

Josh (23:55)
Nice, I like that one. It's a good way to end it.

Lisa (23:57)
Thank you.

Josh (23:57)
Okay, Lisa, so next week we're leaving application season for a minute and we're gonna look ahead to summer.

Lisa (24:07)
Summer, which kind of sounds relaxing, but then someone starts saying, "My God, have you already applied to any summer programs yet?"

We get it.

Josh (24:15)
Exactly. And suddenly a family is staring at a program with a famous university name and a price tag that looks a lot like it's a tuition check.

Lisa (24:25)
Right, so next week we are talking about what is actually worth doing over the summer.

Josh (24:31)
And we're also going to talk about pay-to-play.

So if you spend thousands of dollars on a summer program at a prestigious university, does it actually help you get admitted there?

Lisa (24:40)
And spoiler alert, writing the check is not the admission strategy for that either.

Josh (24:46)
Yes, so we'll talk about how to tell the difference between a meaningful opportunity and an expensive brochure.

Lisa (24:51)
And we're also gonna give some love to very underrated summer options.

So a job or volunteering, taking care of a sibling, doing something that you actually love.

I know. Bananas.

Josh (25:03)
Yes.

I know, because turns out, students and parents, meaningful summer does not require a university logo attached to it.

Lisa (25:10)
Right, or that nine-thousand-dollar price tag. So parents, you're welcome.

Josh (25:15)
Yep, so that's next week on Drop In.

Lisa (25:18)
Remember, we're Decision Drop, making your college journey collaborative, simple, and most importantly, yours.

And seniors, if you have hit submit and are now wondering what happens next, what you should still be doing, how in the world are you supposed to survive the waiting, or you find out that you were deferred from your ED or EA school, we would love to be in your corner.

So head to decisiondrop.com and check us out.

Josh (25:43)
All right, y'all, thanks for dropping in. We'll see you next week.

And remember, I'll borrow Lisa's line: hit that like and subscribe button.

Lisa (25:51)
Bye.

Lisa Clay

Episode 21: What Happens After You Submit Your College Application?

Episode Description:

Why Does My Portal Say “Missing”?

Who Reads Your College Application?

How Long Do Admissions Officers Spend Reading Applications?

What Does Holistic Review Really Mean?

Can I Send an Update After I Submit?

What If I Find a Mistake?

What About AI?

What Should You Do While You Wait?

In This Episode

Top Questions Answered in this Episode

What happens after you submit a college application?

Why does my college applicant portal say a document is missing?

Who actually reads a college application?

What does holistic review mean in college admissions?

Can I send a college an update after submitting my application?

What should I do if I find a mistake after submitting my application?

How is AI affecting college admissions?

Why can a qualified student still be denied from a college?

Chapters

Episode 21: What Happens After You Submit Your College Application?

Episode Description:

Why Does My Portal Say “Missing”?

Who Reads Your College Application?

How Long Do Admissions Officers Spend Reading Applications?

What Does Holistic Review Really Mean?

Can I Send an Update After I Submit?

What If I Find a Mistake?

What About AI?

What Should You Do While You Wait?

In This Episode

Top Questions Answered in this Episode

What happens after you submit a college application?

Why does my college applicant portal say a document is missing?

Who actually reads a college application?

What does holistic review mean in college admissions?

Can I send a college an update after submitting my application?

What should I do if I find a mistake after submitting my application?

How is AI affecting college admissions?

Why can a qualified student still be denied from a college?

Chapters

Episode 20: College Athletic Recruiting- What Families Need to Know