The Light is at the End of the Tunnel…

As the end of the school year is approaching seniors are starting to receive acceptances from colleges and getting ready for a fresh start in a different environment. Though it may seem to be all fun going to college, the seniors actually spent a long time preparing for college applications and completing them. The college application process is indeed a very arduous process. From choosing which schools you will consider for applying to pondering about the information you can produce for application essays, the college application process is not so easy. With that said, many of you upcoming seniors might be worrying about the process already.

Worry not!   -here are tips from current seniors

Now you might wonder what you need to do before starting your applications:

• “Talk to your counselor.”
• “Build up your resume, and maintain your GPA.”
• “Talk to your teachers if you’re stressed or unsure if a prospective major might be interesting to you.”

Well, which one should you do? The truth is all of them. While doing the college application process one senior was “very surprised of how important the college counselor is.” 

Your best friend in college apps

The college counselor is your best friend when it comes to college applications. He will

1. help you send required materials to the colleges you’re applying to;
2. write the counselor recommendation letter to colleges;
3. give you advice on how to approach the application process!

Along with the counselor your teachers will also be very important as they can give you great advice on colleges and applications. Furthermore, you will need teacher recommendations for some schools. Lastly, your academics are the most important part of college applications. Most schools will focus on you GPA as the most important factor in application decisions so definitely maintain a good GPA. Standardized test scores are also important such as IELTS, TOEFL, SATS and the ACT, but don’t stress out on those, just do your best on the day of the exam.

SO WHERE?

The first thing that everyone does when starting the college application is to decide where you want to go for school. Though this may not be of matter to some people, it is actually a very important task. Where one goes for college or university will often decide his or her next step after the university life. If a person goes to the United States for college, he or she will most likely work or continue education in the United States. (Not always!)

 

MAJOR?

Along with the location of your potential colleges, your major is also a very important factor for your future. In order to know what sort of job or which direction you want to take in the future you will need to know what you want to study in college. Studying in college can be a fun thing as you choose something you like to study; however, if you choose a major that you are completely uninterested in the college, life can be very tiring.

• If you have no idea what you want to study during college then choose an “undecided” major! Yes most colleges will allow you to apply for an undecided major which means you will be able to choose a major in your second year of college.
• During your first year in college you will be able to explore multiple fields of academics to identify your own interest. Now choosing majors may be somewhat tricky at times since some may notice that next to the major there is often a “B.S.” or “B.A.” next to the major name.
  • B.S. actually stands for the bachelor of science while B.A. stands for the bachelor of arts. If you would want a more generalized education then go for a B.A. degree! A B.A. degree focuses on a more general education which will help you take courses that not only includes your indicated major’s related courses but also courses of different subjects. If you would wanted a more focused curriculum on your major, then go for a B.S. major! A B.S. major will learn towards courses relating to your major and strictly relate to it!

Don’t worry too much if you’re unsure about choosing majors as while you’re at college you will have the opportunity to switch majors!

university?

Choosing schools is very vital to your application as you will need to know the due dates of the schools you apply to and the materials that these schools require such as grades, essays, a resume and many more.

• You can actually apply to almost as many schools as you want, but avoid applying to a high number of schools, which can consume you.
• The United States colleges often use the Common Application to apply for schools which limits to 20 schools while some schools have their own independent applications so definitely check your desired school up.
• Schools in the UK use the UCAS system to apply while schools in Canada use either the OUAC or have individual applications for each school. Schools in Europe and Japan have their own individual applications for each school.

 

Some might ask “How do I know which schools I want to apply to?”

Well, there is no definite answer for it but here are a few factors to take into consideration:

• Do you prefer large schools or small schools?
• Do you prefer schools in the east or in the west?
• Do you prefer schools with large minority populations?
• Does climate matter to you?
• These are all some questions you can ask yourself before choosing schools.
• How does the school relate to your major?

Tips:

1. Students are advised to apply to safety schools, match schools,  reach (dream) schools.
2. Safety schools are generally schools with higher admission rates where you believe you can a good chance of getting accepted.
3. Match schools are schools that either fit your academic level or schools that fit your academic level but have a lower acceptance rate than most schools.
4. Reach schools are schools that either have really low admission rates or has an academic level that is far greater than your own.

* In order to see how your academics compare to colleges remember to look up the past acceptances of the schools and see the average GPA of accepted students and also average standardized test scores of accepted students.

One senior says,

“I applied for 12 schools and for me it was a very difficult task as the essays were just overwhelming which took a lot of creative juice for me to finish them,”

so be cautious when you’re deciding the amount of schools you will apply to.

The Application

Tackling the actual application is easy at the beginning but it gets hard when the essay questions appear. The first part of applications is mostly background information you need to enter. After the basic information you shall take the greatest challenge of applications, the essays.

• Don’t worry too much when you’re writing the essays and don’t guess what schools want to hear from you. Just write what you believe is the real you in the essay and what you actually think in response to the essays questions.
• The most important thing about essays is also actually “answering” the question. Know what the essay prompt is asking and make a response to the question.
• Don’t rush the essays since you need time to revise them and correct them.
• When you’re editing essays, remember to show them to people you trust to get feedback such as teachers, your parents or friends.

Applied, now what?

When you’re done with applications, you will often use your email to keep in track of the schools. Schools you apply to will send you portals that you use to login to an account that will help you keep track of the missing materials you need to send to schools and also of your acceptances. Remember to get all your missing materials in as soon as possible as most schools will most likely set a due dates for materials in order to be considered for admission. After your application is set don’t worry too much about the results. Don’t worry, there are other things to worry about… (like mocks and TOK presentations and the extended esssay..and IB exams..)

dealing with the undesirable…

• Though acceptances are awesome there will still at times be rejections. Worrying about rejections can be a very exhausting (and pointless) task. The results that come out from the admissions rooms are not an indicator of who you are!

One senior says that,

“Rejections are a natural part of applications. These experiences will help you learn.”

• It is very true since rejections go to everyone even the best students so don’t worry too much about them.
• Lastly, if you get accepted into schools don’t forget to thank those who have helped you with your application: your counselor, teacher and maybe even friends.

 

Hopefully after you have read this article you will feel a lot more confident about college applications. Remember to consult Mr.Bishop or other teachers if you’re curious/unsure about college!

The college application process is just a small part of your limitless future so don’t worry too much about it and just do it!