Surviving the College Application Process
6:20 PM
Happy Friday,
everyone!
As my first
day of school as a freshman in college gets closer and closer, I can't help but
think how this time a year ago how unsure I was of where I even wanted to
study. Applications were just beginning to open and I had buckets of essays to
write, applications to fill out, and scholarships to apply for. Now that August
is here, I know a lot of high school seniors are beginning, or have already
started, applying to schools. So to all those seniors out there, you are not in
this stress boat alone and I feel for you. I really do. Get as much advice as
possible from anyone you can: siblings, parents, guidance counselors (my
guidance counselor was the person I emailed the most senior year). People who
have applied to schools before will know their stuff. As someone who was a stress-ridden senior just
a short year ago, I wanted to share some things I learned when applying to
schools. Now these aren’t the end-all of college application stress, but they’ll
definitely save you a lot of time in the long run.
Compile a list of all the schools to which
you’re applying and their deadlines. Put the dates in your planner, write them in all caps on a
calendar, put countdown reminders on your phone, or write it on your hand. Do
what works best for you. Just whatever you do, don’t let those deadlines creep
up on you. There’s nothing worse than frantically writing three essays for
three different schools on your winter break. A lot of schools have deadlines
that are easy to remember like January 1st. My goal when I applied
to my schools was to have them done before winter break. That didn’t exactly
happen because I applied to a school last minute (to be more exact around 10pm
on the last day to apply). Even though that school worked out in the end, I do not recommend doing this. The sooner
you can get your applications done, the less stress you’ll have.
Speaking of
getting applications done as soon as possible, look at the different deadlines for your schools and pick which one is
for you. Many schools will have different deadlines. Early action, early
decision, and regular decision seem to be the most popular ones. It is so
important that you read what each of those terms means for each school. Some
use the early actions or decisions loosely. The main thing to watch out for is
which ones are binding and which aren’t.
Binding means that if you’re accepted that’s the school you’ll attend. Once you
figure out the differences between your schools’ deadlines, if there are any
that have early applications that aren’t binding, apply by that date! You may
have to start your work a little earlier than planned but it also means you’ll
find out if you got accepted earlier than if you apply by the regular decision
date. I didn’t do this when I applied to the University of Michigan and I had
to wait until April to see if I got in which was no fun.
The Common App is your best friend and
worst enemy. Easily the touchiest
program of all time, the Common App may be the bane of your existence senior
year. If I had a penny for every time the page magically refreshed in the
middle of writing my essay or timed out of my session, erasing everything I had
written, I could pay for a semester of college. It’s clear my feelings about
the site have not changed in the last year. But seriously, don’t type any
essays or answers into the boxes on the website directly. Open a Word document
and type them there first and copy and paste it into the Common App. You’re
chances of losing your work are much smaller this way. All negatives aside, the
common app does have its perks. It keeps you from entering your address five
times in a row or trying to talk up those clubs you did freshman year over and
over. On your dashboard they give you an at a glance look at when everything is
due and how many letters of recommendation you’re allowed. So even though the
website is a pain in the butt most of time, it has its helpful moments.
Save every essay you write. After you’ve copied and pasted your essay
into the Common App or uploaded it to the online application for your school, I
highly recommend making another master document of all the essays you’ve
written. Colleges can be so repetitive in their short essays and an essay you
write for one application could be re-purposed for another application. If a
question seems similar don’t copy and paste a previous essay word for word.
Definitely tweak it to fit the values and goals of the school before sending it
in.
Create a resume of extracurricular activities,
service hours, and work experience. This is another huge time saver. Every school will want to know
what you did outside of the classroom and unlike the essays, there aren’t many
ways you can phrase the essays. Some schools ask you to just list the activity
and maybe a leadership role you had but some schools will want an actual
resume. Making this beforehand can save you from typing out the clubs you did
in four years over and over. Even if you don’t end up using the resume for
college applications, it’s always great to have a resume for any interviews you
go on. It’s one less thing you’d have to do once college starts in the future!
Doing things
to benefit yourself for the future is really the silver lining in the
application process. Every time you don’t feel like writing that essay, or
maybe the Common App erased your response, remember that all the hard work you
put into the applications put you one step closer to going to your dream
school!
What are some
tips you’ve gotten about applying to school? Leave it in a comment below!
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