How to submit your college application:

• On-line. Go to the college web site and download their application or
• If more than one of your schools accepts the common application, go to commonapp.org and you can send it to as many schools as you wish.
• You may click to send, or print a hardcopy to send conventional mail.
• If sending on-line, print a hardcopy anyway for safekeeping in your files. Sion does not make a back-up copy of applications.
• If filling out a paper copy, you may print neatly using black ink. Again, a back-up copy is a good idea.

Transcript Request:

• Each application, whether paper version on on-line, must be accompanied by a Transcript Request form.
• These sheets can be picked up at the college counselor's office or downloaded.
• Please fill it out completely so that we have as much information as we need to complete your application. It will also serve as a record that you have submitted a transcript request.
• You fill in the date you turned it in, and we mark the date your transcript left Sion.

Teacher Recommendations

• Determine how many letters - if any - your colleges require and note whether a college imposes any specific requirements.
• Barring specifications, ask a teacher(s) of a core subject who taught you junior or senior year.
• You may include one (and only one) more than the required number of letters and that can be from anyone who knows you well enough to write for you other than a relative.
• At least four weeks before you need them, begin by asking the individual if he or she would be able to write a recommendation for you. You should do this in person if humanly possible,
• If the answer is “yes” then follow up by giving each person a copy of your resume, any other information you think would be helpful to them, AND stamped, addressed envelops for each college. A sticky note on each reminding them of the deadline for mailing would also be helpful.
• Teachers send their letters directly to the colleges.
• If a teacher offers you a copy of the letter, you may graciously accept it. Otherwise, because it is assumed that you have a signed waiver on file, you or your parents may not ask to see it.
• Finally, write a thank you note to each person who wrote for you.
• And on a related note - if you do an overnight visit at a college, write a thank you note to your student host and to the admissions office. Another nice gesture would be to bring a small gift for your student host when you arrive.
• It is the responsibility of the student to follow up with each teacher to make sure the recommendation letter was mailed.

The Big Brown Envelope:

• Regardless of whether you sent the application on-line or filled out a paper version, you must supply your college counselor with a large mailing envelop with sufficient postage, addressed to the college with 3 stamps. We supply the return address.
• This envelope should be large enough to accommodate several 8 ½ x 11 sheets of paper, unfolded.
• If using a paper application, put the completed version along with essay, application fee etc. in the mailing envelop along with the transcript request.
• If you applied on-line, you need only include the transcript request form. You are free, however, to enclose supplementary material such as a resume or a personal statement.
• If you prefer to send your essay, resume or application fee by conventional mail, they may all go in this envelope.

Deadlines: Generally speaking, we need your application a minimum of two weeks before it needs to be mailed. Because of expected heavy volume, applications periods have a special deadline.

• Applications with a postmark deadline of November 1-15 must be in to your college counselor by October 1, 2010.
• All applications with a postmark deadline of December 1-31 must be in the hands of your college counselor by November 4, 2010.
• All applications with a postmark deadline of Jan. 1-15 must be in to your college counselor by Dec. 3, 2010.
• Applications can still be sent in the second semester at which point, the two-week policy kicks in again.