Each month, this article covers what most institutions are working on and the CollegeVine workflows that help. It's updated at the start of every month.
Updated November 2026
What's happening this month
Early application deadlines. Many institutions have early deadlines on November 1 and 15. Students who started an application but haven't submitted are your highest-return audience right now.
Financial aid season is underway. The 2027-28 FAFSA opened in late September and the CSS Profile opened October 1. Applicants and current students both benefit from reminders now, rather than waiting for spring.
Spring registration opens for current students. This is the time for registration and hold reminders.
Missions to consider
Incomplete application reminders. Target students who started an application but haven't submitted. Name the exact missing item and link straight to it.
FAFSA filing reminders. Target applicants, admitted students and current students who don't have a FAFSA on file.
Registration and hold reminders. Target current students who haven't registered for spring or have a hold on their account.
For step-by-step instructions, see Launching a new mission workflow.
Build now for December and January
Missions work best when they're ready before the moment they're needed. This month is a good time to build:
An admitted student welcome sequence for early action and early decision results in December.
A regular decision deadline push for the January 1 to 15 deadlines.
Before deadline week, check your send limit
Email Marketing and missions share one daily send limit for each email subdomain. If you launch several deadline missions in the same week, the first one can use up most of the limit and the others wait.
Open your Email settings, click a subdomain, and use What to expect to see how long a large send will take.
Launch your most important mission first and space out the rest.
Send to your most engaged students first. A tighter audience usually goes further than a bigger one.
See Understanding email: sending, cadence and metrics for details.
What makes a reminder work
Be specific. Name the exact step that's missing and link to it.
Send from someone students know, such as your admissions office or a named counselor.
Keep the cadence steady. Every one to two weeks is a good starting point. Stop once the student completes the step.
Make it two-way. Students can reply to your agent, so they get answers instead of a dead end.