How to Track College Application Status

You’ve submitted your college applications. Congratulations! The hard work is finished, but there is still work to be done. You need to make sure the application was received and that every part of your application has been submitted, such as test scores, official transcript and recommendation letters. This is something you should be doing daily. How do you do it? Through online portals. Let’s walk you through it.

Setting Up Application Portals

Once you have submitted an application to a college, that school will usually send you an email asking you to set up your applicant portal. We can’t stress enough that you should be checking your email every day. You want to set up your portal as soon as you receive this email.

You will be setting up a portal for every school that sends you this email. Depending upon how many schools you applied to, you can be setting up quite a lot of portals. So, you really need to keep track of your login information for each of these portals. Jot them all down in a physical notepad, your computer or your phone. Just make sure you have them in several places so that you don’t lose them.

For the schools for which you used a proprietary application, such as Rutgers, many times you would log into the account you created for that application and track your application status there in that specific portal (This can vary by school so please refer to their website to see how this is handled.)

The portals are pretty user friendly. They will identify and provide the current status related to all of the application items that the college is requiring, such as:

• SAT/ACT Scores (if you are submitting them)
• Official High School Transcript
• Letters of Recommendation (If they require them)
• Resume (Typically this is optional but if it is required, it will be listed)
• Additional Essay (If this is required)

There’s a myriad of things that could be asked of you on your applicant portal and so checking the status of your college application with each school, every day, is very important.

How to Monitor Your Application at Schools that Don’t Have Portals

There are some schools that don’t have an applicant portal. They will send you emails about the information that you are missing. It is SO easy to miss an email. So, for the schools that don’t have a portal, and if you haven’t received any information from them about your application status, be sure to call the school admission’s office and ask if they have all your application information.

Looking for help with the college search and application process? We help students and families through the entire college planning journey – from search, applications and essays to interview prep, financial aid consultation and final school selection.

Contact us at info@signaturecollegecounseling.com or by phone, 845.551.6946. We work with students through Zoom, over the phone, and by email.