Making Your Game Plan: Preparing to Apply to Multiple Undergraduate Programs (Part II)

This is the second part in a three part series on making a game plan to apply to multiple undergraduate programs abroad as a high school junior, or senior in Taiwan. In Part I, we reviewed the importance of getting all of your important dates in one place. Here, we’re reviewing the importance of centralizing all of your critical Details, and Links in your “My Game Plan” document.

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After critical dates, the next most important pieces of information to bring into your “My Game Plan” document are the critical details and links. But what does that mean, exactly?

Details & Links

You need all of the relevant details and links for all of your target schools. It's a pain in the butt to search through the entire internet every single time you want to look something up. So by centralizing all of the information now, you won’t have to open up five, ten, or fifteen different websites every time you need to check the application requirements for your dream schools.

Does your target school require pictures on your application? Might want to get those printed up soon. Do they ask that you have any special files or additions for you application? You must meet every single requirement they have in order to be successful, so ensure you know them all.

Often times, universities will have a “Checklist” page on their application website. This is where you need to go to get all of your critical details.

What the Duke University Checklist webpage looks like, listing all of the critical information you need to put into your “My Game Plan” document. You can print these out directly, or personalize them to suit your document if you are a visual person.

Does your target school accept the common application? Do they need your first quarter grades from you, or require contact information for a school counselor?

Your "My Game Plan" document should be both electronic, and print. This way, instead of going online (and checking Facebook or the news) every time you want information, have all of the information you need for your schools printed out, and available everywhere you go, and available on your computer. Carry it around in your backpack in a file marked "College Applications" or "Top Secret." The "Top Secret" will make your friends curious, anyway!

In Part III of this series, we’ll go over why it’s important to centralize all of your essay questions into your “My Game Plan” document. Stay tuned, and make sure you let your friends who are applying to undergraduate programs now know that they should be creating their own “My Game Plan” document, right along side you!