Seniors

The Common Application (Common App) is a non-profit membership organization representing more than 900 institutions of higher education. One of the benefits of the Common App is that you complete one application, which can be sent to many different colleges. Check out Common App's guide for using the Common App as well as essay prompts.  

Many institutions, such as the University of Colorado Boulder, only accept the Common App.  Some institutions do not accept it, so you may need to become familiar not only with the Common App but a particular college’s unique application as well. 

Khan Academy Guide to Filling Out the Common App  

EHS tips for filling out the Common App:

• Instructions for using Common App.
• Create your Common App account using a non-Jeffco Public Schools email address.
• Choose at least one college to add to your account before you fill out the Common App application sections.
• Add colleges to your account.
• Fill out the required sections for each college (supplemental essays, etc.).  Ensure you know what you need to send to each college (standardized test scores, etc.).
• Complete the FERPA waiver in the Common App.  This is done in the individual college section and only needs to be done once as it will be applied to all of your colleges in Common App.
• Do not request Evergreen High School teachers or counselors in the Common App under the recommenders section. This will lock up your Common App account! Only request outside recommenders this way. See instructions for requesting letters of recommendation from EHS staff.
• Submit your application. Complete a Transcript Request Form.

The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is an agreement among the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's (WICHE) 16 member states and territories, through which 160+ participating public colleges and universities provide steep nonresident tuition savings for Western students.

Through WUE, eligible students can choose from hundreds of undergraduate programs outside their home state, and pay no more than 150 percent of that institution’s resident tuition rate. 

Since full nonresident college tuition rates may exceed 300 percent of resident rates, WUE increases affordable higher-education choices for students and minimizes the adverse impacts of student loan debt.

WUE Schools

For colleges of interest, we recommend setting up a simple spreadsheet on which to keep track of each institution’s required application documents, timelines and other pertinent information. This will help keep you organized in the weeks ahead.

Rolling admissions

Many colleges have rolling admissions deadlines and you can apply throughout the school year. Each college’s website has up-to-date information about their deadlines and application process.

Colorado Free App Day

The Colorado Department of Higher Education teams up with colleges and universities across Colorado to waive college application fees for all Colorado students in October. [Insert date and link to state site for 2024] That means if you submit your application between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on those days, you can apply for free to any public institution in Colorado and many private institutions as well. All Colorado residents – freshmen, transfers and second bachelor’s candidates – qualify for Colorado Free Application Day. To take advantage of this opportunity, we recommend having all admissions application materials prepared and double-checked before that day. Do not submit your application on Colorado Free Application Day if you feel unready – you only have one chance to submit an application and it’s better to wait until the application is at its best!

Early decision

Early decision (ED) is a binding agreement between you and a college in which you agree that you will attend that college should they offer you admission. You can only apply to one college ED. Generally, you are agreeing to go to that college even if they offer you no scholarships or financial aid. ED deadlines are in the fall of your senior year. You should receive a decision about your application around the new year, but each college is different, so you’ll need to check with each institution.

Early action

Early action applications are nonbinding – students receive an early response to their application but do not have to commit to the college until the normal reply date in the spring. You can often apply to many colleges. EA deadlines are in the fall of your senior year.  You should receive a decision about your application around the new year, but each college is different, so you’ll need to check with each institution.

• Restrictive Early Action – The college only allows you to pursue early action with one private school; requires a contract (e.g., Princeton University).

Regular decision

The normal process by which students apply by published deadlines, which are generally in the winter of your senior year (December-February) with the promise of receiving an admissions decision in the spring of your senior year.

Juniors and seniors are welcome.

Admissions counselors are the people who review your applications. One of the benefits of attending a college visit is that you get a chance to meet the admissions counselor who will be reviewing your application. Admissions counselors take note of who attends these meetings, and it makes a positive impression on them.  

Come prepared with questions, ideally about things you cannot find on the college's website.  Some ideas:

• "What kinds of internships do you offer?" 
• "How does your college help students find employment after graduation?" 
• "How does your college differ from comparable colleges?"

Or, just listen in. We have many new colleges signed up for virtual visits who have not been able to travel here in person in previous years. New visits are added daily so check in Naviance often.

Register in Naviance – Log in to Naviance using your Jeffco student ID and password, which will then take you directly to Naviance. Scroll down to “What's New” and click on “Show more” so you can see the whole list of college visits. For each school with which you may be interested in visiting, click on “more info” and “Register” for that visit. A meeting link for the visit will be posted by Naviance in this same location 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting. You can reach out to me at janet.prell@jeffco.k12.co.us if you are having technical difficulties.

It Pays To Be An Apprentice – 63% More – NPR article, Oct. 20, 2020

Community colleges in our area:

Red Rocks Community College

Since 1969, Red Rocks Community College has assisted students in meeting ambitious career and educational goals in an exciting, collaborative environment with multiple pathways to success. We deliver career-enhancing courses, certificate programs and degrees that represent a solid investment in each student’s goals and career success. Red Rocks Community College embraces the leadership role of providing education that is firmly rooted in real-world applicability.

Through academic excellence and the breadth of our student population, we provide a pathway that is true to our local, state, national and international communities and support changing trends as they impact the success of our students’ career and educational goals. Our high value and academic rigor, combined with dedicated faculty, outstanding student life, and a strong learning support system, make Red Rocks the smart choice for meeting educational goals.

RRCC offers numerous degrees and certificates in today's most in-demand career fields including health careers, speech-language pathology and audiology, computer technology, fire science, law enforcement and many more.

Red Rocks Community College has campuses in Lakewood and Arvada. Courses are delivered in formats from traditional classroom, online, self-paced, and weekend classes.

Front Range Community College

Our No. 1 priority is student success. We believe that learning is a partnership between students, faculty, and staff. In everything we do, FRCC focuses on helping our students reach their goals.

Our career/technical programs train students for immediate employment and careers in more than three dozen high-demand fields. FRCC regularly adds innovative new programs in emerging fields where students can get good jobs. More than 20 of our certificate or Associate of Applied Science programs have state, regional or national accreditation.

Our transfer students do as well as – or better than – students who start at universities. In fact, Front Range was recently profiled as one of the top six community colleges in the country for transfer student success.  Our Associate of Arts (A.A.) and Associate of Science (A.S.) degrees are guaranteed to transfer to public four-year colleges and universities in Colorado.

FRCC is the number one transfer institution for:

• University of Colorado Boulder
• Colorado State University Fort Collins
• Metropolitan State University of Denver
• CSU-Global

Four locations: Boulder County, Larimer, Westminster, Brighton Center and online learning.

Arapahoe Community College

Arapahoe Community College, founded in 1965 as Arapahoe Junior College, was the first two-year college in the Greater Denver Metropolitan area. The college grew out of a grassroots effort by Littleton residents who wanted to provide post-high school education in the area.

Check out ACC's seven Pathways to help you explore our degree and certificate programs to find the path that is right for you and your goals. Discover academic experiences that will give you real-world experience and connect you to the ACC community and the world.  With over 100 degrees and certificates to choose from, our pathways can help you find a focus, stay on track, and take you one step closer to achieving your dream.

In addition to the campus in Littleton, ACC has campuses in Parker and Castle Rock. In May 2018, ACC broke ground on the ACC Sturm Collaboration Campus, a project between ACC, Colorado State University, and Douglas County School District.

Community College of Denver

Community College of Denver was founded on the vision that every member of our community can attain the education they desire. CCD is committed to providing you an opportunity to gain quality higher education and achieve personal and professional success in a supportive and inclusive environment. Now more than ever, education is your key to a more secure future.

CCD is dedicated to providing an exceptional education to our diverse community of motivated learners.  Build job-ready skills in as little as 15 weeks! CCD offers more than 100 certificate and degree options.

Whether you study at the Auraria Campus, Advanced Manufacturing Center, Health Sciences at Lowry, or through CCD Online, you'll discover our small class sizes, flexible schedules, award-winning professors, extensive support services, world-class facilities, easy access via public transportation and affordable tuition.

Community College of Aurora

Community College of Aurora is a Colorado community college with campuses in Aurora and Denver. In addition to the classes offered at these two campuses, we offer online courses and degrees. Maybe you need a degree or certificate to help you land your dream job – or you’re looking for an affordable way to transfer to a four-year college or university in Colorado; CCA can help you achieve your goals and dreams.

We are small enough to get to know you, and big enough to offer numerous courses of study that will meet your educational goals. Our exceptional faculty and staff, convenient class times and locations, friendly support services, and diverse student body will help shape your future in a fast-changing world. And we offer tuition and fees that are about half of what students pay at a public or private university!

Community College of Aurora takes education to a whole new level, combining solid theory with practical training. With this approach, we equip students with relevant learning that can lead to a solid and secure future. Come to CCA and discover an exciting place to learn and grow!

You  may notice that many colleges and universities use the term “liberal arts.” This term does not refer to a college or university’s political stance but to its focus on academic subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics and social and physical sciences as distinct from professional and technical subjects. 

Liberal arts involve classical themes such as critical thinking, ethics, etc., which are woven through all classes. At universities, these are broken up: ethics classes, critical-thinking classes, writing classes, etc. are separate courses. The main difference between liberal arts college majors and university majors is that liberal arts schools generally offer one expansive area of study, whereas at universities, the same major may be broken into two or more degree tracks.

Universities vs. Liberal Arts Colleges

From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “The liberal in liberal arts, a cornerstone of the education of so many, has very little to do with political leanings; its roots can be traced to the Latin word liber, meaning “free, unrestricted.” Our language took the term from the Latin liberales artes, which described the education given to freeman and members of the upper classes, and involved training in the mind (grammar, logic, geometry, etc.). The phrase liberal arts has been part of our language for a very long time, with use dating back to the 14th century.”

Applied to a college? Here are some things to think about next:

1. I won't know you have submitted a college application unless you submit a Transcript Request Form. This tells me I need to send out your transcript, letter(s) of recommendation, and school profile.
2. Check your email. A lot of really important information is going to start showing up such as links to set up your application portal, apply for scholarships, register for housing lotteries and more.
3. If your application portal says you are missing documents, please know it may take days or even weeks for these portals to be updated by the college. If you're worried, stop by the Futures Center and we can check on all submissions made by EHS (school profile, transcript, letters of recommendation).
4. Start researching scholarships at your college and non-collegiate scholarships.
5. Order SAT and ACT score reports if you are choosing to submit them to your college for consideration in your application.
6. Order dual enrollment college transcripts (CU Denver, Red Rocks Community College, etc.) if you are choosing to submit them to your college in your application.
7. Use this Excel worksheet to compare the total cost of attendance at different colleges to which you've been accepted – it may help with your final decision.
8. Relax and enjoy the moment – well done!

Deferred at CU Boulder?

• If you applied to an elite program at CU Boulder, such as Engineering or Leeds School of Business, you may eventually be admitted to that program or admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences, from which you can take relevant courses your freshman year and demonstrate you can handle college level work in that field; then, reapply to the program for your sophomore year. They want to see your senior fall semester grades to see how you're doing.
• If you applied to the College of Arts and Sciences (general application), you may eventually be admitted, but they want to see your senior fall semester grades.
• Your fall semester grades were submitted to CU Boulder in January.
• You can submit "late documents," which are materials reflecting achievements you have earned since you submitted your Early Action application in November. These can be for things like a promotion at work, lettering in a sport, making it to State in DECA or something similar...positive updates to your "resume." Colleges are generally happy to include these updated materials in your application file.  Please email our admissions counselor at CU Boulder, Israel Sanchez, with these materials at israel.sanchez@colorado.edu. 
• I don't know if you will hear a final decision about admission before April 1.
• Start making sure you have alternatives. Other great alternatives on the Front Range include CU Denver, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Northern Colorado, CSU Pueblo and Metro State University of Denver.

Waitlisted at a college?

• If you are very interested in this college, you can accept a position on the waitlist.  Nationally, 10-20% of applicants are eventually accepted. At very selective colleges, the rate is 7% or less.
• You can look at a college's common data set (e.g., Google “[name of college] common data set”). Look under section C2 where you can see how many applicants were placed on the waitlist last year and how many were eventually accepted. Example: University of Richmond.
• Call the college's admissions office and ask if they accept late documents that show achievements you have earned since your application was submitted.  If they do accept late submissions, write a letter of continued interest and list your accomplishments.
• You will probably not hear anything about your acceptance from the waitlist until late May, June or even July.