Demystifying the College Application Process: 10 Tips for Rising Seniors
Avoid Procrastination: Create a college application timeline
College application websites like the Common Application and Coalition Application open up in the late summer, marking the official start of the college application season. Even though you may believe that this provides ample time before the Regular Decision deadline in January, a variety of other essential dates can make this six-month span very stressful. To prevent getting overwhelmed, create a college application timeline. If you plan on applying Early Decision or Early Action to some schools, anticipate finishing some of your college applications around November and December as opposed to January. Beyond college application deadlines exists financial aid deadlines. FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) opens up on October 1st and serves students on a first come first serve basis. Depending on your situation you may also have to complete a CSS (College Scholarship Service) Profile and submit additional financial aid documents to your school by a certain date depending on when you chose to apply. Rather than scramble around at the last minute, risking errors and mistakes in your application, plan ahead to eliminate such issues.
Research Resources: Find seminars, websites, & mentors
Most college application resources are simply a web search away. The Internet and social media platforms offer a multitude of free online tools to assist students in navigating through this hectic process of applying to college. Websites like the College Essay Guy and TikTok accounts like @goharsguide not only supply advice, but access to tips, techniques, and templates for crafting your best college application. Analyzing the aspects of successful college applications and supplemental essays enables you to emulate the key qualities in your own way. Examine extracurricular lists, study example personal statements, search up school-specific information. On a more personal level, members of your own high school community—like college counselors, teachers, and alumni—can give individualized guidance based on their experiences and knowledge relating to the college application process as well.
Stay Organized: Make folders, schedules, & spreadsheets
Trying to organize all your college information, application essays, and account passwords can be intense. To keep track of your college essentials, create a folder dedicated to all your college-related files. This simple yet time-saving tool keeps all your resources in one prime location. Therefore, it will be easier and faster to find the documents you need. In this folder, you can also consider implementing weekly schedules and master spreadsheets to further organize your information. Templates are available online for college comparison spreadsheets to input important statistics and demographics for a visual breakdown of each school. Without a clear and cohesive way of managing your resources from the beginning of your journey, the process will become more complicated with every additional college that you add to your list. While maintaining organization may seem tedious, it will reduce your worries for the future.
Determine Necessities: Distinguish the wants and needs from your educational career
As you prepare to embark on these next years in your educational career, you must determine the factors that will influence your college decisions the most. Are you looking for someplace with an affordable cost of attendance? Are you looking for someplace with a specific major? Are you looking for someplace with a distinct program? Perhaps, you are looking for all three and even more. To find the right fit for you and your family, distinguishing the wants and needs from your educational career is necessary. Whether you plan to attend a two-year institution or a four-year institution, these places are meant to serve you and your educational necessities. Even though you might be attracted to the notable prestige or beautiful campus of a school, you must consider the major factors of affordability and academics above all else. Curating an undergraduate experience focused on your individual circumstances will supply more flexibility and opportunity when applying to graduate school or entering the job field.
Figure Out Finances: Consider all the costs of applying to college
The college application process is expensive. Not only do colleges charge between $60 to $80 per application, but they also charge for sending in standardized tests scores, supplemental portfolios, and additional financial aid components. These costs can place a significant financial burden on your family when you add everything up for each school. Check to see if your family qualifies for any fee waivers in order to save money. If not, be honest with your parents and expect to spend a decent amount of money on your college applications. Beyond the application aspect, comes the actual cost of attendance for college. Factors like public institutions versus private institutions and in-state tuition versus out-of-state tuition will drastically affect the price. Therefore, make sure you research each college’s policy on financial aid and merit aid. Financial aid relies on your parents’ financial situation while merit aid relies on your academic eligibility for scholarships. Look for the chance to save money wherever possible.
Maintain Balance: Save time to enjoy your senior year
Despite all the stress of applying to college in the beginning half of your senior year, save time to enjoy your last few moments of high school. To spend every waking hour of your life from August to January engrossed in college applications is unreasonable. Although applying to college requires a significant amount of time and commitment, do not skip going to your school’s last fall pep rally or Homecoming dance. Missing out on long-lasting high school memories to spend a few extra hours editing your supplemental essays or perfecting your activities list is not worth it. In the end, you will regret obsessing over college applications if you let the process engulf your life. After years of hard work in the education system, you deserve at least one year to enjoy yourself.
Prioritize Your Mental Health: Do not sacrifice everything for academics
Managing applications, academics, assessments, and activities is overwhelming. However, your mental health must be your utmost priority. Without being in a happy and healthy state of mind, all of these tasks become nearly impossible to conquer. If you find yourself experiencing breakdowns and panic attacks over the college application season, you must take a break. Do not sacrifice your mental health. Nothing is worth more than your well-being. Find an outlet or hobby that allows you to destress from the demands of the day. Taking an hour or two to read a book, watch a movie, or grab a meal with friends will help you to rejuvenate yourself. If you still find yourself struggling to work through this difficult time, communicate with your parents, teachers, and counselors to express your situation. College application season causes burnout for many students. Do not neglect the warning signs and take action to prevent yourself from damaging your mental health.
Set Goals: Plan intended accomplishments
Visualize your dreams. What goals do you hope to achieve? You are not expected to have everything figured out at the ripe age of 18. Yet, having a general outline of your intended accomplishments will act as a source of motivation for you. These goals do not have to be strictly academically oriented; in fact, they can involve a wide range of categories. Maybe you would like to travel outside the country after college. Maybe you would like to pursue a Ph.D. after college. Maybe you would like to enter the job field after college. How will your college degree help you achieve these aspirations? While getting a college degree is important, the most important part is what you do afterward. A college degree can enrich your knowledge of a subject and propel you forward in the job market, but you must possess the drive and direction to reach your full potential.
Self-Reflect: Recognize the strengths and weakness of your application
Reflect back on your last four years of high school: all the classes, extracurriculars, and standardized tests. Now, try to consolidate all those experiences into a mere couple of pages — that is essentially your college application. Although you may think that you need to be the perfect 4.0 student involved in an endless amount of clubs in order to succeed, your success is dependent on creating the most authentic narrative of yourself. Perhaps, you are worrying about factors like a low GPA, limited extracurriculars, or poor writing skills affecting your chances of getting into a good school. However, rather than dwell on your weaknesses, highlight your strengths. For instance, maybe your GPA is below your college’s average, but you participate in a variety of sports, school activities, and volunteer work in high school. In this case, design a detailed activities list and make sure to center your personal statement and/or supplemental essays on your consistent involvement in the community. Ultimately, think about the strengths of your application and emphasize them in order to compensate for any parts that are lacking.
Stay Focused: Do not compare yourself to your peers
At the end of the day, you are the one navigating through your own college application process — not your parents, not your teachers, not your friends. Just you. At times, you may feel tempted to compare yourself to your peers. Yet, doing so will only lead to unnecessary anxiety and dissatisfaction. Comparing your GPA, test scores, and activities list to others creates a toxic mindset that sets you on a road to your own demise. Each person’s journey through college applications is different. If someone judges you based on your academic qualifications or college decisions, ignore their negativity and focus on building your own path to success. College application season compels high school students to compete with each other to get accepted into prestigious institutions. In reality, you must realize that your own worst enemy is yourself. Do not self-sabotage your chances of fulfilling your dreams because you are afraid you are not good enough.