Regrouping for Regular Decision Season
It’s now been about a month since you submitted your early applications. Maybe you’ve been able to take a little breather while Early Action decisions are slowly trickling in. Maybe you didn’t receive the Early Decision outcome you hoped for. Either way, Regular Decision offers a fresh start—and a chance to show colleges all you’ve accomplished during first semester.
Now’s the Time to Regroup
January 1st is only three weeks away, and for many students it’s the earliest Regular Decision deadline. If you’ve built a balanced list, you should still have plenty of great options. Take a moment to revisit your list:
Do you still feel excited about each college?
Has anything changed since you first created it?
Are there schools on the list you no longer truly want to attend?
If you wouldn’t say “yes” to attending, take it off. At this point, that honesty is critical. However—if you don’t yet have an acceptance—make sure you still have at least three schools with acceptance rates above 70%. These higher-probability options can provide important peace of mind.
Build an Application Schedule
Create a simple spreadsheet with the following:
School name
Deadline
Required essays
Regular Decision deadlines are more spread out than Early Action/Early Decision, so organize your work by due date.
Finals are also coming up, so remember: studying matters, and colleges will receive your first-semester grades. They want to see consistency or—better yet—improvement.
If your school requires you to remain on campus during finals even when you don’t have a test, use those blocks of downtime for writing. Add those windows directly into your spreadsheet.
Review Your Common App (Again)
Go through your application line by line. Look for:
Spelling or grammar errors
Incomplete sections
Outdated leadership roles or activities
New awards, achievements, or responsibilities
If you’ve earned or completed anything new, update it. Regular Decision is your chance to present the most complete version of yourself.
Fine-Tune Your Writing Process
As you plan out your supplemental essays, make sure you build in time for thorough editing. Now that your personal statement is done, you can give your supplements the attention they deserve.
My standard essay workflow:
Research and outline
Write a draft
If needed—toss it and start fresh
Rewrite
Edit and read aloud
Edit again, reading to someone else or having them read to you
Final edit
Look for opportunities to reuse ideas from previous essays, but be careful. If you repurpose a supplement, remove any school-specific references before submitting.
You’ve Got This
Regular Decision season is intense, but it’s also full of opportunity. If you need feedback or support with any part of your application—especially supplements—I’d love to help. Reach out anytime, and we’ll make it work.