So can someone tell me the step by step process in applying to colleges
Why are you so lacking in information? Are you writing from outside the US?
@louiemm please search the colleges’ websites for instructions on how to apply and what requirements are needed. Being totally clueless about it won’t help you at all.
Not like “being totally clueless” is something you can help if you don’t know where to start.
If you are international, try Googling how to apply for college in the US. I found this: http://www.internationalstudent.com/study_usa/application-process/
Finding schools you might be able to do using the SuperMatch tool on this website:
http://www.collegeconfidential.com/college_search/
OP posted a thread [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1841327-what-are-my-chances-p1.html%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1841327-what-are-my-chances-p1.html]here[/url] asking which Texas schools he/she could get in. It’s possible, but I wouldn’t assume OP is international.
Colleges’ websites are usually pretty clear on application instructions, including how to apply and what test scores or other things are required, so I suggest searching there first.
There are many good books on the market and most are also available at your public library. Once you have some more specific questions, there are many posters on here who would be glad to help. But you need to do a little of the legwork first, if for no other reason that educating yourself about the process is important practice for all the other challenges you will have to handle on your own in college and beyond.
This question kind of boils the ocean – we could write pages, but a little legwork on your part could really help focus your questions a little more.
The purpose of CC is not to do basic research for individuals. Talk to your guidance counselor. Look at online resources. Go to the library and look at books about the process.
You should make your way to your HS guid counselor’s office and do some basic research on target schools’ webpages. You should simply see that as one stage in becoming prepared for college. If you want to shortcut that, you’re looking at it in a rather immature way.
So not everyone comes from elite private or good public high schools in which students get lots of guidance about how to apply for college, and not every student comes from families that can provide this kind of help. Not every high school has guidance counselors that even provide this service. At my working class public high school, there were 4 guidance counselors for 1600 students and they were primarily preoccupied with signing people up for classes and completing administrative duties relevant to that, making sure students actually came to school and went to class, dealing with disciplinary issues and dealing with home issues. They were not really well-equipped to give a lot of detailed guidance to a student looking for information. Their suggestions for colleges were pretty limited to a few in-state options.
I have sympathy for this student, because I was there. When I was 16, I didn’t know anything about applying for colleges. Asking people for help was the way that I found out. This student is asking people for help. Maybe they chose to ask here because they see the wealth of information that’s provided about the college application process, the intelligent and usually warm commenters, and the lively and active discussion that happens.
College Confidential is explicitly a community for helping students learn about applying for colleges. There aren’t any rules or regulations for how much background research you have to have done before you come here to ask a question.
Different colleges have different processes by which you apply. In general, the process looks like this:
-Deadlines are typically somewhere between December and March, although some are later. A few are earlier. Some schools have what’s called “rolling admissions,” which means you can apply at any time through the year. However, they do fill up and give out their financial aid first-come first-served, so it’s better to apply early to these places if you can. There is a set of materials that you have to submit to the school. Usually those materials are 1) An application to the school, in which you fill out basic information, sometimes list any extracurricular activities you’re involved in and maybe answer some short answer questions; 2) your transcripts, which you can request directly from your high school; 3) SAT or ACT scores, more about that in a minute; 4) letters of recommendation from teachers who can talk about your performance as a student and your potential for success at the college you’re applying to; and 5) an essay or a set of personal essays on some specific topic. Sometimes the topic is given to you and sometimes you can free write. Every college has different requirements for the essay. Some colleges require additional information, like scores from the SAT II Subject Tests. Some colleges want a resume from you.
You also have to pay for these applications; application fees seem like they range from around $60 to 80 these days per college.
So generally speaking, a rough timeline of a process might look like this:
-Spring of junior year in high school to summer before senior year: Start identifying a list of colleges you want to apply to. Narrow down that list to a manageable number - that varies from student to student. Study for the SAT or ACT. There are lots of paid and free resources to help you study if you search online for them.
-Early senior year (August to October): Take the SAT or ACT. There’s usually a test date in September or October for each test. Start preparing some essays; look up the required topics on the schools’ websites. The earlier you start, the more time you have for revisions and for getting other people to look at your essays. This is also the time to start asking teachers in whose classes you did well to write you a recommendation letter. Many (most) schools ask for three, although many schools want two, some want one and others don’t take any at all. Start putting together a resume, in case your schools require some.
-December to February-ish of senior year: Fill out those online applications. Request transcripts sent from your high school to the schools in question; you can do this by going to your school’s administrative office. They usually have a form for you to fill out. Remind your teachers about those recommendations; you will usually have to provide them with instructions for how to upload them to the application (you can find those on the school’s website, too). Then submit! Try to do this a few days before the deadline, at least, so you don’t encounter any last minute electronics issues. By this time you should be getting your test scores back, too, so you can fill out the paperwork to send the test scores directly from the testing companies to the colleges.
-January to March-ish: Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. It’s exactly what it sounds like - a free application that colleges and the government use to determine what student aid you are eligible for. You’ll likely need your parents’ help, or at least cooperation, to do this - because you’ll need their tax returns. It’s easier if you do it after they file their taxes, although if they always file them super late you can fill it out with estimates and update it later. Many schools have a deadline for this too, so check it out and make sure you adhere to that!
-March to April: This is when you will start hearing back from schools about whether or not you were accepted. You will also get a financial aid package, in which the schools will tell you how much aid - if any - you were awarded. Financial aid can be a combination of scholarships and grants (which you don’t have to repay) and loans (which you do).
-May 1: The national decision day that most colleges adhere to. This is the date on which you have to tell the college you’re accepting that you’re attending and the ones you’re not that you’re not coming next year. You usually also have to give an enrollment deposit to hold your spot - which is usually around $300-500 (although this can be waived, too, especially if you have full scholarship support).
Now of course, this is ROUGH, and many students’ experiences vary. Some students with more preparation or from different backgrounds might start taking the SAT or ACT much earlier, like in the beginning of their junior year, so they can retake it if they don’t like their scores. (I recommend this!). Some students apply early decision or early action and so their deadlines are in November or even October. Some students start working on essays and resumes over the summer before senior year. The earlier you can start the better!
Also, while most schools only need the FAFSA, there are some private colleges that also need what’s called a CSS PROFILE. It’s a more detailed financial aid form, and it costs money - $25 for the first college and $16 for each additional one.
Relevant websites:
To find the admissions/application website of any university, just Google “[University name] admissions”. For example, I Googled “Texas A&M admissions” and the first result was their admissions page.
SAT: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat
ACT: http://www.actstudent.org/
FAFSA: https://fafsa.ed.gov/
StudentAid.gov (information about federal student aid): https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/
CSS PROFILE: https://student.collegeboard.org/css-financial-aid-profile
Please others, add anything I forgot. It’s been a while 