This guide provides a roadmap for high school juniors and seniors to navigate the college application process effectively.
It emphasizes the importance of starting early and highlights key strategies to improve your chances of admission.
Tips on preparing for College Applications:
Sports:
- Proactive outreach is crucial for athletes seeking to play in college. Contact coaches directly; don’t wait for them to initiate contact. NCAA Division I schools have specific timeframes for contacting recruits.
- Showcase your skills by uploading a short video to the recruiting questionnaire on the college’s athletic website. Keep it concise and authentic.
- Build relationships with coaches and seek referrals to enhance your profile.
Demonstrated Interest:
- Many colleges consider demonstrated interest to gauge a student’s genuine interest in attending. This is especially important in a competitive environment where colleges aim to optimize their yield (enrollment rate) by admitting students most likely to accept their offer.
- Research each college’s policy on demonstrated interest. Common ways to demonstrate interest include:
- Attending virtual webinars and tours offered by colleges throughout the year.
- Participating in interviews with alumni starting in the spring semester. Prepare beforehand using online resources for interview questions. Maintain a natural and unrehearsed demeanor during the interview.
- Visiting campuses in person, if possible. This allows you to experience the college firsthand and provides valuable material for the “Why Our School” essay.
- Contacting your local college area representative and introducing yourself. Ask meaningful questions that cannot be easily answered through the college website.
Testing:
- While testing was recently optional for some schools, taking the standardized tests is still recommended. A strong score can significantly improve your application. You can choose not to submit your scores if you’re not satisfied with them.
- If your student is struggling in some subjects or needs to better prepare for testing, consider using a tutor from an online site such as TutorMap.
Before Summer Break
- Request recommendation letters from teachers well before the application season begins. This demonstrates responsibility and gives teachers ample time to write thoughtful recommendations. Typically, two teacher letters are sufficient, along with a counselor letter from your school.
Summer Before Senior Year: Organize Application Materials
- Create a detailed record of your extracurricular activities since freshman year, including:
- A list of each club participated in, along with its primary functions and time commitment (hours per week/month) for each year of involvement.
- Any leadership positions held within clubs, with a description of responsibilities and time commitment.
- Document your sports participation, including hours per week/month and any noteworthy achievements or awards.
- List any jobs held, including hours per week/month and duration of employment.
- Include details about community service activities outside of school, specifying the time commitment, nature of the activity, and duration of involvement. Mention any significant achievements or awards.
Essay Preparation:
- During the summer, create a spreadsheet to organize college essay prompts. This will help identify overlapping prompts and save time by crafting generic responses that can be tailored to specific colleges.
- Remember that most colleges accept the Common Application essay. However, UC schools and some other state schools may have separate application systems with unique essay prompts. These prompts may or may not align with the Common Application essay each year.
- Starting essays early, even in draft form, can significantly reduce stress during the fall semester when students juggle applications, sports, and regular schoolwork.
College Selection:
- Apply to a balanced mix of safety, match, and reach schools. The recent trend of out-of-state admissions at public universities due to financial constraints may continue. Consider private and out-of-state schools as backups. Researching colleges using Niche.com’s ratings and student reviews can be helpful.
Early Action vs. Early Decision:
- Understand the crucial differences between Early Action and Early Decision deadlines (typically in October or November).
- Early Action applications are non-binding. Submitting an Early Action application allows you to receive an early decision but does not obligate you to attend if accepted. Top grades can lead to scholarship offers with Early Action acceptances.
- Early Decision applications are binding. You can only apply to one Early Decision school. If accepted, you must commit to attending and withdraw all other applications. This option is ideal if you have a clear top-choice school, but there’s an escape clause for financial limitations. Highly competitive schools often receive a higher percentage of acceptances through Early Decision due to the guaranteed enrollment.
- Early Action deadlines typically start in October. If you miss these deadlines, you can apply during Regular Decision.
After Applications are Submitted:
- After January 1st, applications are complete. This period is marked by a mix of relief and anticipation as you wait for decisions. Early Action and Early Decision results typically arrive between mid-January and February, while Regular Decision results usually come out in March. Admitted students have a one-month window (typically in April) to visit campuses.
