Common App and College Craziness
Oh college....I remember being a freshman, watching acceptance reaction videos, wishing the day would finally come when I could apply to college. Now, as a senior, I am not sure of what I was so excited about. Yes, it is cool to dream about where I will be located a year from now, and think of all the super interesting people I will meet and how independent I will be...but the waiting period until I find this out is painfully long. On top of this, college applications are a pain in general. I have written so many supplemental essays that I think my head will explode!
I want to try to make it easier for younger students when they apply. I will go over a few tips on how to prepare for senior year and also define some terms that will become part of your life.
Tips:
1. Start to form a list of schools that may potentially interest you during the beginning and middle of junior year. It does not need to be perfect, but if you find a few schools that interest you, you can try to plan a time to visit them over junior year spring break or the summer before senior year. It is chaotic to fit visits in during senior fall. If you start early on your list, you can also be better equipped to apply for fly-in visits to colleges.
2. If you are unsure of what you want to study, that's okay! Start slimming down the school options by focusing on other criteria such as size, location, religious affiliation, etc. Then, dive deeper into the actual programs the schools offer.
3. Before senior year begins, make a calendar, either online or physically, with deadlines. The deadlines for every college differs, and it gets especially confusing with scholarship deadlines as well. Do not wait until fall to make this calendar, or you will be surprised by some of the early deadlines! Make it in the summer.
4. If money is an obstacle at all for you, email schools for fee waivers regardless of what you think you may get from the FAFSA or if you qualify for free/reduced lunch. While some students' families may make enough money to be considered financially able to pay based on the school's or government's judgment, colleges understand that every family situation is different. Some students may have to pay for all the application fees themselves (these add up). Therefore, always email the schools. More times than not, they will tell you how to get a fee waiver without asking too many questions.
5. The final tip for this blog posts is not related to the actual application process as much, but instead how you approach it. It is easily to get taken away by comparison, jealousy, and other negative emotions during this process. There are a few things I did that I would advise against to others. First off, do not look at other students' statistics online and see if they got in or not. Comparing yourself to other students around the globe will only hurt you. I found myself scrolling through pages and pages of acceptance results threads on College Confidential, trying to compare myself to others to see if I could get in. This does nothing beneficial! So please, avoid the comparisons.
I hope that helps!
Kiki
Tips:
1. Start to form a list of schools that may potentially interest you during the beginning and middle of junior year. It does not need to be perfect, but if you find a few schools that interest you, you can try to plan a time to visit them over junior year spring break or the summer before senior year. It is chaotic to fit visits in during senior fall. If you start early on your list, you can also be better equipped to apply for fly-in visits to colleges.
2. If you are unsure of what you want to study, that's okay! Start slimming down the school options by focusing on other criteria such as size, location, religious affiliation, etc. Then, dive deeper into the actual programs the schools offer.
3. Before senior year begins, make a calendar, either online or physically, with deadlines. The deadlines for every college differs, and it gets especially confusing with scholarship deadlines as well. Do not wait until fall to make this calendar, or you will be surprised by some of the early deadlines! Make it in the summer.
4. If money is an obstacle at all for you, email schools for fee waivers regardless of what you think you may get from the FAFSA or if you qualify for free/reduced lunch. While some students' families may make enough money to be considered financially able to pay based on the school's or government's judgment, colleges understand that every family situation is different. Some students may have to pay for all the application fees themselves (these add up). Therefore, always email the schools. More times than not, they will tell you how to get a fee waiver without asking too many questions.
5. The final tip for this blog posts is not related to the actual application process as much, but instead how you approach it. It is easily to get taken away by comparison, jealousy, and other negative emotions during this process. There are a few things I did that I would advise against to others. First off, do not look at other students' statistics online and see if they got in or not. Comparing yourself to other students around the globe will only hurt you. I found myself scrolling through pages and pages of acceptance results threads on College Confidential, trying to compare myself to others to see if I could get in. This does nothing beneficial! So please, avoid the comparisons.
I hope that helps!
Kiki
This is helpful. Would you be willing to answer any questions that parents or students might post here?
ReplyDelete