I revisited a site that I had spent hours and hours pouring over: http://www.collegeconfidential.com/
The site truly did help me in some ways - answering random questions about the CommonApp, scholarships, college mailings, and differences between "EA" or "ED". However, it often gave me much more anxiety than I needed to have, especially during the "pre-college year", as I like to fondly refer to June 2010 to April 2011.
Now, I'd like to give some advice for rising seniors who are about to start the college application process.
Pick your schools wisely, but promptly.
This is for the rest of your life. You don't get any re-dos (let's be honest, not too many people want to go through transfer applications all over again.). If you know what you want, go look for it! For example, if you want to be a business major in college, high prestige doesn't always mean they offer what you're searching for. Out of all the ivies, University of Pennsylvania is the only undergrad business school. Cornell has their Hotel school, but make sure that's something you want to do if you apply! Sometimes, schools that aren't as widely recognized - like Emory, Washington University in St. Louis, or UVA - also have highly ranked business schools. Look for your specific major or interest and see the undergraduate rankings for that, not just the general rankings from US News.
Find your disadvantages, and minimize them as much as possible.
If you aren't a stellar student, then make sure you have other activities/highlights to balance that out! If you don't have a 4.0, try to at least have high SAT or SAT II scores. If you don't have a plethora of activities that you've been heavily involved in, choose one and expand on it! Show colleges what you're passionate about and what you will add to their school. Convey what makes you different from the thousands and thousands of other applicants applying to their school!
Find your advantages, and use them.
Are you a brilliant writer? Maybe you love science - and can prove it. Perhaps you have over a thousand community service hours because volunteering is a passion. Or have you had years and years of experience babysitting? Literally anything can be an advantage. The fact is, you don't know what that college is looking for. The best thing you can do is present yourself as brilliantly as possible on paper. You might ask: How can I show colleges what I'm made of? ESSAYS!!
Write a brilliant essay. And more brilliant essays for your supplements.
You want to have at least 20 drafts of your CommonApp essay. That means...START NOW. Yes, I know the CommonApp isn't even available yet, but you already know the topics (ie. anything!), they stay the same yearly. You want to know that you put your best effort in. I would highly suggest you have parents, teachers, coworkers, friends, your parent's coworkers, anyone you can find edit this. People can really contribute a new perspective that is sometimes hard to see yourself. I know I had some of my parent's coworkers edit my paper and it was really helpful because they didn't know me at all. They were able to say, "This doesn't make sense. Who is this person? Why is this even important?" while people who I already knew couldn't point those things out because they knew what I was talking about in my essays. Furthermore, you don't want to be bogged down by 14 more supplemental essays come the last week before applications are due. Seriously. Been there, done that....wasn't a good idea.
Be organized.
While this might seem like a given, a lot of people mess this step up. Make a calendar, show all the due dates and deadlines. Start a task list. Put dates that you want to finish your essays by or dates you want to complete the extracurricular section by. College applications IS a step-by-step process! Don't try to do everything at once or else you won't even want to start at all.
Choose your teacher recommendations wisely.
You don't have to choose the teacher who was "really cool" or "really funny". Choose a teacher/class that you really think your character (positive ones, please) was revealed through. Choose a teacher who knows you; those who are sponsors of extracurricular activities are always a great choice (given that you've done a good job!). Once you've chosen, talk to them now rather than later. When they agree, compile a resume for them, maybe even discuss with them a few things you'd really like for them to highlight on. Put everything in a folder or a binder with a list of the colleges you wish for them to write to and due dates for those colleges as well. They're doing you a favor, you could at least make it easier for them.
There's definitely a lot more that I could talk about...so I'll update soon again. I just went through this. I'm here to help. So, if you have any questions at all, feel free to email me at goingivyleague@gmail.com. I'd be happy to answer anything!
If you want to learn more about the college process, the following links may help answer questions!
Types of "Early" Admission
Question 1: What colleges look for in essays
Question 2: What to do the summer before
The site truly did help me in some ways - answering random questions about the CommonApp, scholarships, college mailings, and differences between "EA" or "ED". However, it often gave me much more anxiety than I needed to have, especially during the "pre-college year", as I like to fondly refer to June 2010 to April 2011.
Now, I'd like to give some advice for rising seniors who are about to start the college application process.
Pick your schools wisely, but promptly.
This is for the rest of your life. You don't get any re-dos (let's be honest, not too many people want to go through transfer applications all over again.). If you know what you want, go look for it! For example, if you want to be a business major in college, high prestige doesn't always mean they offer what you're searching for. Out of all the ivies, University of Pennsylvania is the only undergrad business school. Cornell has their Hotel school, but make sure that's something you want to do if you apply! Sometimes, schools that aren't as widely recognized - like Emory, Washington University in St. Louis, or UVA - also have highly ranked business schools. Look for your specific major or interest and see the undergraduate rankings for that, not just the general rankings from US News.
Find your disadvantages, and minimize them as much as possible.
If you aren't a stellar student, then make sure you have other activities/highlights to balance that out! If you don't have a 4.0, try to at least have high SAT or SAT II scores. If you don't have a plethora of activities that you've been heavily involved in, choose one and expand on it! Show colleges what you're passionate about and what you will add to their school. Convey what makes you different from the thousands and thousands of other applicants applying to their school!
Find your advantages, and use them.
Are you a brilliant writer? Maybe you love science - and can prove it. Perhaps you have over a thousand community service hours because volunteering is a passion. Or have you had years and years of experience babysitting? Literally anything can be an advantage. The fact is, you don't know what that college is looking for. The best thing you can do is present yourself as brilliantly as possible on paper. You might ask: How can I show colleges what I'm made of? ESSAYS!!
Write a brilliant essay. And more brilliant essays for your supplements.
You want to have at least 20 drafts of your CommonApp essay. That means...START NOW. Yes, I know the CommonApp isn't even available yet, but you already know the topics (ie. anything!), they stay the same yearly. You want to know that you put your best effort in. I would highly suggest you have parents, teachers, coworkers, friends, your parent's coworkers, anyone you can find edit this. People can really contribute a new perspective that is sometimes hard to see yourself. I know I had some of my parent's coworkers edit my paper and it was really helpful because they didn't know me at all. They were able to say, "This doesn't make sense. Who is this person? Why is this even important?" while people who I already knew couldn't point those things out because they knew what I was talking about in my essays. Furthermore, you don't want to be bogged down by 14 more supplemental essays come the last week before applications are due. Seriously. Been there, done that....wasn't a good idea.
Be organized.
While this might seem like a given, a lot of people mess this step up. Make a calendar, show all the due dates and deadlines. Start a task list. Put dates that you want to finish your essays by or dates you want to complete the extracurricular section by. College applications IS a step-by-step process! Don't try to do everything at once or else you won't even want to start at all.
Choose your teacher recommendations wisely.
You don't have to choose the teacher who was "really cool" or "really funny". Choose a teacher/class that you really think your character (positive ones, please) was revealed through. Choose a teacher who knows you; those who are sponsors of extracurricular activities are always a great choice (given that you've done a good job!). Once you've chosen, talk to them now rather than later. When they agree, compile a resume for them, maybe even discuss with them a few things you'd really like for them to highlight on. Put everything in a folder or a binder with a list of the colleges you wish for them to write to and due dates for those colleges as well. They're doing you a favor, you could at least make it easier for them.
There's definitely a lot more that I could talk about...so I'll update soon again. I just went through this. I'm here to help. So, if you have any questions at all, feel free to email me at goingivyleague@gmail.com. I'd be happy to answer anything!
If you want to learn more about the college process, the following links may help answer questions!
Types of "Early" Admission
Question 1: What colleges look for in essays
Question 2: What to do the summer before
4 comments:
Thank you soo much for this.
It is a great guide for me
I am a rising senior and I am STRESSED
You're welcome! I'll be writing more stuff so hopefully it'll continue to help. Just remember that you'll definitely end up somewhere and you will be happy there! :) Good luck!
whered u get accepted to and where r u going
Hi, I hope this post will answer your questions:
http://goingivy.blogspot.com/2011/06/who-am-i-to-give-college-advice.html
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