by Monique Hawkes
(Baltimore, MD)
I know that the last thing on your mind as a freshmen is what campus you see yourself at four years from now. All you are trying to do is make it through your first day in a school filled with bullies, mean girl cliques, and more responsibility than you think you can handle. The sad fact of the matter is that freshmen year is probably the most important time to start thinking about college. But let’s be realistic; there’s no way the majority of fourteen-year olds are going to know exactly what they want to do when they graduate high school. But there are places to start.
Read more College Admissions Help from other students and parents who have been through process.
College applications can be a stressful process for many students. Through my experience of applying to colleges, I have found several different tips that that has allowed me to get into the even more selective schools.
Colleges are more leaning towards accepting students with a high GPA, good SAT or ACT scores, and letters of recommendation from reliable teachers that can fully describe every single good point of a student. Even though a student will pass with flying colors in a regular class, colleges will see you as not being able to challenge yourself and place yourself into more rigorous programs. Thus, they will believe that you will be unable to handle the courses in a selective college.
It is imperative that a student selects a teacher who will write a good and compassionate letter of recommendation about a student. Write a long resume detailing a person’s activities in and outside school. These resumes tend to show a student that has been able to make the best of their high school years. It is always important to research into what type of student a college is looking for, and sometimes they aren’t looking for the most competitive, but rather the most convincing. Colleges enjoy having unique students that have committed to various activities in school. Colleges will always attempt to accept exceptionally outstanding athletes, people with strong commitment in volunteer service, jobs, leadership, and clubs.
Other than that, it is important that if you have a college major that you exhibit the fact that you are truly interested by participating in clubs relating to the major, or volunteering in an area involving that career pathway. You always want to have the most up-to-date knowledge about each school you are interested in, so it may be helpful to ask people that are already in your dream school and ask for tips on what they did to get accepted. Asking questions is not a bad thing to do, and it is the best possible thing to do during college fairs or visits in order to gain a stronger background and idea of how a college may fit into your own personal life.
Altogether, colleges are more reliant on a student’s grades, then their extracurricular activities in and outside of school. High school may be a time to have fun for students, but it is also a time to help prepare an application for a college. It may be tempting to relax and ease your way into college without doing any work, but it is a much better idea to focus more on work and other additional activities outside of class.
Read more tips about Applying to Colleges from other students and parents who have been through the college admission process.
by Melissa Clucas
(Jackson, Michigan, United States)
Talk to people around you that can help you. Being accepted into a college or getting financial aid is not something you can do solely on your own. Be it your parents, a college adviser, a teacher giving you a recommendation letter or what ever it is, you need people around you to help you succeed.
Many times if you get to sit down and talk to someone, you aren't just a number any more and you are showing that you care enough about your education and care enough to put the effort into becoming successful. If you're going to someone for help, not only are you getting a one on one interaction where you can ask and clarify questions directly, but it helps to familiarize yourself with how the process works and what the requirements are for what you need to get done. People are willing to help you if you need it, more than likely, they've been in the same boat as you at one time.
There are many resources and people around you that can help you or give you advice. Each and every high school teacher had to go through the same process when they started college. What is their story? There is no doubt that they could have advice that might potentially guide an incoming freshman in the right direction. A college adviser can help you find scholarships and resources that will be beneficial in helping you pay for college. He or she may also assist in clearing up questions in how to fill out an application, or aid in finding a fitting college or major that you might be interested in.
Never think that college is something you have to go through with alone. There are many, many resources and help available to any kind of student, and the more you take advantage of them the easier college will be.
Read more College Admissions Help from other students and parents who have been through process.
by Daniel Wassall
(Catoosa, OK, United States)
When applying to college or post-graduate programs, attention should be paid to two key areas: preparation and punctuality. Upon choosing a school to which to apply, the application process and application itself should be thoroughly studied. This is where punctuality is important. Some schools operate on a “rolling” admissions basis, which means that qualified applicants are accepted on a first-come first-served basis. In these cases, submitting the application at the earliest possible date is crucial. No matter the qualifications of the applicant, a late application can be the deciding factor in being denied admission. From personal experience, the best way to ensure punctuality in submitting the application is preparation.
There are two components to properly preparing for the college admission process. Short-term preparation is the easiest to handle because this pertains specifically to the application itself. The parts of the application that may require preparation are letters of recommendation and supplementary documents, such as college essays. In choosing a writer for a letter of recommendation, careful attention should be paid to choosing someone who is not only willing to write a letter, but who will write a thoroughly complimentary account of the applicant clearly expressing that they know the applicant well. Be sure to request this letter well in advance to ensure that the writer has plenty of time and do not hesitate to offer the writer any additional documents, such as a résumé or curriculum vitae, to help with the letter.
The long-term component to preparation mainly deals with remaining in good academic standing in the years leading up to the application process, so that when the time comes, there will be no fear of a less-than-impressive application. For the college application process, grade point average and standardized test scores are crucial to a strong application. Showing well-roundedness by participating in school activities and volunteering is also important, but academic standing seems to be the key component. If the plan is to apply to post-graduate programs after a bachelor’s degree, an application that shows the prowess of the applicant in fields other than academia is important. In these cases, letters of recommendation, participating in campus activities and internships play much larger roles.
In conclusion, the key to success in the college application process is preparing well and remaining on time with all parts of the application.
Read more Advice for College Applicants from other students and parents who have been through process.
Scholarships for 2024 - It is never too early or too late to work on your scholarship searches. If you are part of the high school class of 2024, you should work on your scholarship and college search now. See our list of Scholarships for High School Seniors
FAFSA - The official 2024 - 2025 FAFSA will be available in December. FAFSA.
Scholarship Lists An overview of the different types of Scholarship Money for College.
Grants Learn more about grants, the other free money for college.
Need Tuition Help? Reduce the cost of tuition with these college Tuition Assistance Programs.
Tax Credit Claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit.
College Savings Plans Save money for college with these College Savings Plans.
Need a Student Loan? Yes, you qualify for these college Student Loans.
Scholarships for High School Students