Applying to College is So Hard So Here’s What to Do and When
It’s my first how to post! Yay!
Disclaimer: I’m American and this will mostly apply to American college admissions and testing, but it might help others too. Anyways, since I’m a high school senior now, I thought I’d fill you guys in on what I did right (and what I did wrong) for any baby studyblrs out there.
Join clubs/school extracurriculars like debate, national honor society, etc! Join as many as you can, but don’t worry about getting leadership positions or anything like that. Figure out what you’re interested in, and stick with those clubs for the next four years. (Drop the ones you don’t like asap to keep some free time.)
Make a list! Keep track of all the clubs you’re actively in, and add sports or extracurriculars like Girl Scouts. Bam! Now you have a mini resume that you can update every year.
Freshman year grades are important, so don’t slack off. This is usually the easiest year, homework wise, so try to start high school off right. As it gets harder to get straight A’s, those freshman year A’s will help boost your cumulative GPA so much!!
Start looking at colleges! Nothing super hard, just figure out how far you’re willing to go from home and search around for colleges you might like.
Talk to your parents about college! If you don’t have tiger parents, start talking to your parents about your plans and figure out your financial situation so you can start planning.
Start taking honors/AP classes if your school offers them. I started out with two AP’s sophomore year, which really helped me out junior and senior year when my course load was lighter than my friends. This is the year to learn time management!! Learn from my mistakes!!
Start getting serious about your clubs/extracurriculars/sports! Set yourself up to take on leadership roles this year/next year. Add to your faux resume any notable roles or projects you do.
Get a job! Having a job, even if it’s just babysitting or grocery store bagging looks good for colleges, and it’s so nice to have some savings/money to have fun with!
Start studying for standardized testing! As a rule of thumb, girls usually do better on the ACT and boys usually do better on the SAT. I recommend prepping for the test the year/grade when you take Trig/Pre Calc and then taking it at the end of that year. For me, that meant taking the SAT twice during sophomore year so I didn’t have to take it junior or senior year. I highly recommend this, especially if you’re going to be taking much harder courses later on.
Start looking at colleges more seriously. If you have an older sibling like me, tag along on their college visits. Trust me, you will learn a ton! By sophomore year, most students know what kind of schools are reaches/matches/safeties and can start making real lists of where to apply.
This is the year where the shit hits the fan, so be prepared for multiple breakdowns. You will need your mom more than ever.
Finish your testing!!! You do not want to be worrying about testing while you’re applying to colleges. Get the score you want by the end of junior year. If you still aren’t happy, I hate to break it to you, but you probably won’t do better even if you take the test five more times.
Take harder classes. For me, this meant two AP’s and four junior college courses. Only take classes that you can get good grades in though, A’s in regular classes are better than C’s in AP classes.
Take leadership roles! Run for offices in your clubs, join student government, try to become captain of your sports, and earn awards for other extracurriculars like Girl Scouts, Debate, etc.
Finalize your list of colleges and start visiting them. I recommend narrowing down your list to around eight schools, although there’s not magic number of schools to apply to.
Apply for scholarships! The summer after junior year is a great time to look for/apply for scholarships. I don’t recommend applying for huge, competitive scholarships because you won’t win, but search for smaller more niche ones in your community.
Don’t fall prey to senioritis!! It’s so real, and I’m experiencing it rn so bad.
Take hard classes, but don’t overload yourself. High school is hard, but you should have fun. Being a senior only happens once, and you’ll regret not going to at least one football game/dance/whatever happens at your school
START THOSE APPS!! The common app and most other apps open august 1, so start those essays during the summer. You will thank me later bc writing about yourself is SO HARD OMG
If you haven’t already, take those last standardized tests!
Get those apps filled out! It’s so hard to start, but just fill out the easy stuff first like your name, school, courses, etc. It will make you feel so much better to check off those boxes
