Ask three counselors in the same firm what the steps of an application are, and you get three lists. They agree on the big ones, the draft, the review, the submission, and they differ on the order, on who does what, and on when “reviewed” is true. Each keeps the list in a sheet of their own. The firm’s process exists, but nowhere a new counselor could read it.
A template fixes that: one list of steps, written down once for the firm, that every application starts from. Here is the one we start firms with, and the rule we learned the hard way.
The six steps
| Step | Who | When | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplement draft | Student | 28 days before the deadline | A file is attached |
| Draft to counselor | Student | 21 days before | A file is attached |
| Decide whether to send test scores | Counselor | 14 days before | A tick |
| Final review in Common App | Counselor | 7 days before | The counselor confirms |
| Submit the application | Student | On the deadline | A tick, which marks the application as submitted |
| Interview | Student | Only if the college asks | A tick |
Three things in this table matter more than the names.
Every step has an owner. The student drafts, the counselor reviews, the student submits. A step without an owner is a step everyone assumes the other person is doing. In Via the student sees their steps on their phone, as tasks, and the counselor sees theirs on the caseload.
Every date hangs on the deadline. “28 days before” is a rule, not a date. When a student moves from Regular Decision to Early Decision, every step moves with the deadline, and nobody retypes six dates for twelve colleges.
“Done” means the action was taken. A draft step is done when the file is attached, not when the student says it is written. A review step is done when the counselor confirms it. A tick is only for a step that is a tick.
The rule we learned
The first version of our template let any step be completed in any order. It looked flexible. It was wrong, and we saw it the first time we walked through a plan: a student could mark the application submitted while the counselor’s final review was still open. The plan said the right things in the right order and enforced none of it.
So a step now names the steps it waits for. Submit the application waits for the final review in Common App; the review waits for the draft to counselor. A waiting step shows a lock, and it stays locked whoever clicks, the student on their phone, the counselor in the drawer, or the task the step became. Exactly one step submits the application, and it is the one that waits for everything that must come before it.
That is the whole rule: the order the firm wrote down is the order that happens.
What to adjust per college
A template is a start, not a cage. Where a college asks for more, the counselor adds a step to that application: a second supplement, a portfolio, an audition. Where a college asks for less, a step is not needed and holds nothing up. The template stays what it was for the next application, and a change to the template applies to plans created from then on; plans that exist keep their steps.
Write the list down once. Give every step an owner and a rule for its date. Decide what “done” means for each. Then let the order be enforced, so the plan is a plan and not a wish.
How the application plan works in Via, with the template and the steps per college.