What to do after being admitted to college

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Your student applied to several colleges and got admitted to one (or more!). The college search process is complete, but now a new process begins — going from being admitted to starting their first day of classes. There are a lot of steps in between, so let’s go!

Accept admission

Your student needs to accept admission to the university (usually by paying an enrollment deposit) and decline the offers from any other schools that also admitted them. And you should help your student to be absolutely sure that they want to accept one offer before they decline the others. After they make their final decision and accept admission to their new school, consider having a family celebration for your student for getting into college and moving into this next phase in their life. After all, it’s a pretty big deal. 

Access the student portal

Your student will be given a new email address for their school, as well as a student portal where they can do things like see their class schedule, view financial information and more. They should check their school-issued email and portal regularly, because this is most likely where their school will communicate with them on important items like their next steps in the enrollment process.

Keep track of and meet deadlines

Your student will have lots of deadlines to meet before the start of classes, including applying for financial aid (if they haven't done so already) and (more) scholarships, securing on-campus housing, paying tuition and fees, and more. Encourage them to use a calendar to keep track of all their deadlines and to avoid any last-minute headaches.

Attend new student orientation

It’s important that your student goes to orientation. Here they’ll attend sessions to get all sorts of information about their new school. They’ll hear about student support resources and learn ways they can get involved and meet other new students. They may also get their student ID and register for classes. 

Meet with an advisor and register for classes

As noted above, this may take place at orientation. But if not, your student will need to schedule an appointment with an academic advisor to pick and register for their first-semester courses. The advisor will help ensure that your student is taking the right classes and that they are starting out on the most efficient path to their degree.

These are general steps that your student will need to follow between being admitted and starting classes. Their school will probably have other specific steps your student needs to take to enroll. As long as they stay connected to their new college and complete their steps, they should have pretty smooth sailing as they prepare to start their college experience.