Clear the last steps before term starts

The last mile

What actually goes wrong

A meaningful number of students who are admitted, deposited and funded never enrol. It is rarely a change of heart. It is a placement test not taken, a health form not filed, a registration hold nobody explained, a balance nobody knew about, or a form that went to a college email address the student never opened.

It happens most to students who are the first in their family to go, because there is no one at home who has seen the process before. If that is your family, this checklist is the single most valuable page in the plan.

Work through every item

Money

• Log into the student account portal and read the actual balance
• Confirm every grant, scholarship and loan shows as anticipated or disbursed
• Confirm the payment plan is set up if you are using one
• Resolve any hold. A hold blocks registration and move-in and does not resolve itself.

Academic

• Placement tests taken (maths and language most often)
• Courses registered and the schedule confirmed
• Summer assignments finished
• AP or IB scores sent and credit applied

Health and administrative

• Immunization record accepted, not merely submitted
• Insurance waived or accepted before the deadline
• Disability accommodations registered if they apply
• Emergency contacts filed

Practical

• Housing assignment and move-in slot confirmed
• Student ID card arranged
• Travel booked
• Bank access that works where the campus is

Check the college email daily

From now on this is the only channel that matters. Colleges send holds, deadlines, registration windows and bills there and assume it is read. Forward it to a phone today.

If something is wrong, call

Not email. Call the office, say "I am an incoming first-year and I need help with X", and stay on the line until you know the next step. Offices are helpful and busy; email in August can sit for a week you do not have.

For parents

This is the handover. Sit with your student while they make the first call rather than making it for them — but do sit with them. Watching one call happen is how the next four years of them handling it themselves begins.