The SUNY Online Academic Record: Everything You Need to Know

This year, SUNY has rolled out the SUNY Online Academic Record (SOAR), a system where students self-report their grades instead of sending a transcript and SAT score reports. This will cut down on processing time, postage fees, lost records, and trees destroyed; it will also take you a good hour to complete and is really, really tedious.  The good news is that once you’ve completed it, your SUNY schools will have instantaneous access to your academic history, and those schools with rolling admissions will be able to offer you a decision even faster. **Stony Brook and Binghamton are using the STARS system for one more year, so students applying to those schools must also fill out a separate academic report. Sorry!**

Even though Mr. Frick is still going to scan your transcript in as part of his counselor’s report on the SUNY Counselor Connect, this is the way that SUNY is going to look at your grades. YOU are the one looking at your transcript and entering the grades, and the most frequent question is: What’s to stop people from lying?

There is absolutely no point in lying about your grades. Your school WILL require an official transcript eventually, and should they find out you that lied on your SOAR, you will have your acceptance rescinded from ALL SUNY schools. There is NO point in screwing yourself over this way. 

**SUNY will not reject you for a typo; you will be putting a cumulative GPA and all your scores in, so if something doesn’t add up, SUNY will contact Mr. Frick and will correct any mistakes that way.**

If you are applying to SUNY schools via the Common App, you will need your Common App ID number, and you should see Mr. Frick, as logging into SOAR is a bit different.  Everything you will read below is the same, though.

In order to begin SOAR, go to your SUNY Portal homepage on ApplySUNY and click on the box to the right:

The Common Application: Everything You Need to Know

The Common App is both a very useful and very infuriating application platform for applying to private schools, most SUNY schools, and out-of-state public schools. It streamlines the application process when applying to multiple schools, but there are hundreds of buttons to click and some of the prompts are a bit confusing.

Go to http://commonapp.org, create an account, and then read through the following guide for how to apply for schools on the Common App! The process described below doesn’t go in a straight top-to-bottom order, but does highlight the most important parts–and those that cause the most confusion.

The first thing you should do is search for and add the college to which you want to apply. For most schools, if you type in the name and wait a second, suggestions will appear in the drop-down box. 

SUNY Next Steps: The Supplemental Application

So, you’ve submitted your SUNY initial application on ApplySUNY–congratulations! Mr. Frick will send your recommendations and your official transcript, but there are two next steps that you must take:

1. Filling out the supplemental application (either the SUNY supplement form or individual campus form)

2. Filling out the SUNY Online Academic Record (SOAR), which is how SUNY will see your GPA and SAT scores

There will be a post about SOAR later this week, but read on for step-by-step guide to filling out the SUNY supplemental form. Please note: Some campuses, like Geneseo, FIT, SUNY Maritime, and others have their own individual supplements to fill out.  If you are applying to any of these schools, you will see the link in your ApplySUNY home screen.

Remember: Mr. Frick is going to do a demo for the SUNY Online Academic Record portion of this later.  Worry about Supplemental Application part for now!

CUNY: Next Steps

After you submit your CUNY application via the CUNY Portal, you will need to send your SAT scores.  For every SAT registration, you get FOUR free SAT score reports.  Be sure to use one of those to send to the central CUNY processing center! For those of you who took the October SATs, you should be getting your score reports this week.  Regardless of whether you took it in October or are taking it in November, you can pre-arrange to have your scores sent via your CollegeBoard account! Under the “My Tests” section of your account, there is a button that says “Send scores.” From here, you are led to your options for sending scores: You can send scores from one specific test, you can send the most recent scores, or you can “Send Scores When Available.”

You have to search for the name of the school and the state that it’s in.  For CUNY, search “CUNY” in New York State, and select the “CUNY UAPC” in Brooklyn, NY:

This will send your SAT scores to ALL SIX of your CUNY schools–and if you haven’t used any of your free score reports, it won’t cost you a thing!

Otherwise, the other next step is payment. You can print out a receipt and mail in a check, but it’s best to pay by credit card if you are able to.  CUNY fee waivers are very, very limited, so if you can pay the $65, please do!

How to Apply to SUNY via ApplySUNY

There are two ways to apply to SUNY schools: via ApplySUNY, or via the Common Application; it is okay to use one or the other, and it is okay to use both! If you are applying to a bunch of private schools on the Common App, and only one or two SUNY schools, then it’s probably easier to use the Common App; if you are applying MOSTLY to SUNY schools, it’s easier to use ApplySUNY.

If you would like to be considered for EOP at a SUNY school, or if you want a fee waiver (for four free schools), you should use ApplySUNY.  

Here is how to fill out the INITIAL SUNY application:

1. Go to http://www.suny.edu and click “Apply Now” in lower-left part of the screen.

2. If you haven’t already, click “Create Account.” (If you already have, skip to step 4.)

How Apply to CUNY

The ONLY way to apply to CUNY is via the CUNY Portal.  Here is how to do it! Read the instructions in bold, and look at the screengrab/pic to see example. Due to formatting problems, the directions are squeezed between the images–so pay attention!

1. Go to http://cunyportal.cuny.edu and click “Register for a New Account.”

2. Click that you are an Applicant applying to a CUNY college:

3.