Getting In and Beyond

Your high school counselor is by far your most valuable resource when it comes to the college application process. Here's a list of tips I have for having a great relationship with your high school counselor and to make sure he/she will have your back during the college app process! 1. Start meeting with him/her early. I'm talking about (at latest) first month of freshman year. If you're a sophomore, don't panic if you haven't talk to him or her just yet. It is bad if you still don't know who your high school counselor is or have never exchanged more than a few words with him or her by your senior year. And no, meetings with your counselor for course selection does not  count. Really make an effort to meet up with your counselor! I promise you it is not that awkward. 2. Have an agenda for the meeting. Scheduling the appointment is one thing, but this isn't a type of to-do list with only one item. It's important that your counselor is on the same pa...

I only applied to four schools, and only really cared about two of the admissions decisions. That being said, I wouldn't say I'm the best at giving advice on dealing the college app essays, though that isn't to say I didn't have obstacles to overcome. I certainly struggled (very normal thing, by the way), but I had the luxury of having to deal with less essays. So, I provided testimony from a bunch of my friends regarding their own struggles (or lack thereof) with the college app essays, and any advice they have for future high school seniors. Happy writing! *Please keep in mind that some people have chosen to only disclose their first names or remain anonymous. Thank you for respecting their privacy.* Mallika "Definitely start writing early. Also write your essay when you're in the right mood and you actually feel like writing. I wrote many drafts of essays of different topics, but I was never super into any of those topics, which reflected in my writing...

Be in the know so you can get the right foot in the door. Here is some jargon you should know about before you start diving into the college application process! Please note everything is in alphabetical order. CEEB Code This is an identification number for a specific location and/organization (think colleges or scholarship corporations). They were created by the College Board (CEEB simply stands for College Entrance Examination Board, i.e. the College Board) to prevent confusion and ensure things like test scores, transcripts, and applications go to the right places. When you send your AP scores or SAT scores, it is best to use the CEEB code the college has to make sure you're sending your scores to the exact location (and it saves money, since sending scores costs money, which can be wasted if you send your scores to the wrong places). Coalition Application This is a college admission application that allows an applicant to send one application to all colleges a student cho...

Hey, congrats on being a senior! Senior year is super exciting yet incredibly nerve-wracking, so hopefully these tips will help you alleviate that stress a little bit as you start your last first couple of weeks of school (if that makes sense). 1. Request transcripts. Your school takes time to process this kind of stuff! As far as I know, it's free to request and send out transcripts, so there's no harm in sending them out. If you decide to not apply to a school that you requested a transcript for, that's fine (though disclaimer: don't get all willy-nilly with that). Make sure you have all your papers in order. My school requires a signed form from a parent or guardian authorizing transcripts to be released, and that takes a lot of time to process, so make sure you actually can request a transcript before it's too late. 2. Turn in rolling admissions apps (if you haven’t done so at this point). Rolling admission applications are by far the most straightforward....

College app season really hits off in the summer (and not in the fall). Put the right foot forward with this suggested list of things to do the summer before your senior year! 1. Make a significant dent into those college app essays. Most colleges release their supplemental prompts and essays during this time. Get on top of those so as to avoid procrastination during the school year! If most of your schools are through the Common Application, then it's probably in your best interest to prioritize that big one over the smaller ones. I'll have some advice about writing your college essays in a later post, so be on a lookout for that! 2. Get a job, internship, and/or some career-related experience. Now that you shouldn't  have to worry about standardized testing (more on that later), you can actually focus on earning money or gaining valuable experience and perspective on what you want to do in the future. For example, I got a job as a cashier at my local grocery st...

Don't be the person that finds themselves in the beginning of senior year without any sense of what they want to do in college, or even worse: not knowing where to apply and how to go about it. The process for college applications starts earlier than your senior year (like, way earlier), so here are some helpful tips for tackling junior year in regards to the college application process. 1. Take the SAT or ACT Seriously, get this done!!! You DO NOT want to be worrying about standardized testing the summer before your senior year and certainly not when you're in the middle of college apps. Unfortunately, it's tough to really take it super seriously now, but it pays off. For some selective schools (you'll need to do some research on this), the admissions counselors are also looking to see you perform well on certain SAT Subject Tests, which requires special preparation. 2. Talk to teachers about recommendation letters. You obviously shouldn't do this u...