tips for APPLYING TO COLLEGE!
1. Get organized today: Read the directions on each application. Know what is required of you and when it is required. Enter this information on a planning calendar. Record meaningful dates and deadlines you must meet in completing your applications. Decide which standardized tests you want or need to take and enter the test dates as well as the registration deadlines. Post the calendar some place where it is easily referenced by you and your parents, such as your refrigerator or a family bulletin board.
2. Give yourself—and others—time to do a good job: Establish your own deadlines for sending in the materials that are at least one week ahead of the actual deadlines. Then work backwards to establish dates by which you need completed essays and letters of recommendation, allowing plenty of time (6-8 weeks) for these documents to be generated. By waiting until the last minute to get things started, you give up control of the process and lose your ability to put your best foot forward.
[Get 5 tips for securing recommendation letters.]<-CLICK
3. Keep things simple: You shouldn't need to apply to more than eight schools—six is an even better number. Focus your energies on the applications for schools you have researched thoroughly and about which you really care—they are likely to fit you best.
4. Establish a game plan for your application: Know how you want to come across to the admissions committees at each school and take stock of the opportunities you have with their respective applications to make your case. Develop a theme that speaks to who you are and pulls together the sum of your parts. Keep that theme in mind as you prepare the different elements of each application.
[Find out the right way to pitch yourself to a school.]
5. Connect the dots: A common mistake made by prospective applicants is the failure to make a cohesive presentation with their applications. They see their credentials as collections of random documents (transcripts, essays, letters of recommendation, test results, etc.) and thereby fail to pull things together. Take time to eliminate the randomness. Connect the dots so that a picture emerges reflective of the qualities you want admissions officers to see as they consider your candidacy.
6. Stay focused in the classroom: With all of the traditional senior year and college planning activities going on around you, it will be easy to lose track of the work you need to be doing in the classroom. Believe it or not, the work you do in your senior year could turn out to be your most important credential. Make it count!
Your senior year should be one of good times and fond memories. While the college application process is daunting, it can be managed effectively. Take advantage of these strategies to ease the stress and keep a smile on your face as you work to get from where you are to where you want to be!
2. Give yourself—and others—time to do a good job: Establish your own deadlines for sending in the materials that are at least one week ahead of the actual deadlines. Then work backwards to establish dates by which you need completed essays and letters of recommendation, allowing plenty of time (6-8 weeks) for these documents to be generated. By waiting until the last minute to get things started, you give up control of the process and lose your ability to put your best foot forward.
[Get 5 tips for securing recommendation letters.]<-CLICK
3. Keep things simple: You shouldn't need to apply to more than eight schools—six is an even better number. Focus your energies on the applications for schools you have researched thoroughly and about which you really care—they are likely to fit you best.
4. Establish a game plan for your application: Know how you want to come across to the admissions committees at each school and take stock of the opportunities you have with their respective applications to make your case. Develop a theme that speaks to who you are and pulls together the sum of your parts. Keep that theme in mind as you prepare the different elements of each application.
[Find out the right way to pitch yourself to a school.]
5. Connect the dots: A common mistake made by prospective applicants is the failure to make a cohesive presentation with their applications. They see their credentials as collections of random documents (transcripts, essays, letters of recommendation, test results, etc.) and thereby fail to pull things together. Take time to eliminate the randomness. Connect the dots so that a picture emerges reflective of the qualities you want admissions officers to see as they consider your candidacy.
6. Stay focused in the classroom: With all of the traditional senior year and college planning activities going on around you, it will be easy to lose track of the work you need to be doing in the classroom. Believe it or not, the work you do in your senior year could turn out to be your most important credential. Make it count!
Your senior year should be one of good times and fond memories. While the college application process is daunting, it can be managed effectively. Take advantage of these strategies to ease the stress and keep a smile on your face as you work to get from where you are to where you want to be!