Applying to college is probably the most stressful and terrifying thing a person between the ages of 16 and 18 has to do (unless, of course, you’re a teenage matador sensation). It’s not that filling out an application and writing some essays is particularly difficult; it just falls at approximately the worst time possible. Junior year is the educational equivalent of being put on “the rack” and by the time senior year rolls around (when you really should be preparing your application), nobody really feels like working anymore. Fortunately, I’m beginning to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel. As a veteran of the college application wringer, I feel obliged to pass on a few of the tips and tricks I learned along the way. While I can’t promise a college process miracle pill, I know that these will help:
1. Start early! And I don’t just mean applications. Start visiting schools early. I visited my first two schools during spring break of my sophomore year. While it may seem to be too soon to be thinking about college, it is very helpful in many ways. Firstly, it eliminates the need to visit three or four schools a weekend during junior year. If you start visiting a school every now and then when you’re a sophomore, you’ll be able to take it easy (easier, that is) as a junior and senior. The only downside to this is that you may need to go back to a school that you visited earlier on. Secondly, there’s nothing more exciting (about the college process) than being on a campus that you really love. I came away from my first college visit excited to start the process and more motivated to work hard in school.
2. Visit “safety schools” first. I didn’t do this but I realized about a week ago that I probably should have. Between sophomore and junior year, I visited all the “good” schools that I would want to apply to but it didn’t even cross my mind to visit the “safeties”. Now I’m scrambling to visit my safeties because many of them require interviews.
3. Get organized. Without a doubt one of the most important pieces of advice I can give. Make spreadsheets to keep track of schools that you’ve visited, have yet to visited, loved, hated, were indifferent to, etc. This will make it easier on you when it comes to assembling the official “list” and it will make it easier on your guidance counselor, who will probably want to know what you’re thinking. Which leads me to my next tip…
4. Get to know your guidance counselor and make sure they know you. They have to write you a letter of recommendation (whether you like it or not), so it is important that they know you pretty well. All you have to do is schedule a meeting with them. They will be more than happy to talk to you and it never hurts to make a good first impression.
5. Make a resume. This serves two purposes: it is something for you to use in interviews (college and job interviews) and it is infinitely helpful when completing the Common Application. Make sure you include the activities that you participated in, the years you participated, any leadership positions you held, community service that you’ve done, jobs you’ve had, etc. The more you can put on it, the better.
6. Don’t panic. Applying to college can be stressful but panicking will only make it worse.
I wish you all the best of luck. The college process, while stressful, is very exciting (and a great excuse for staying at home on the weekends). With that said, I really should be going – I need to finish my college essay.
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