For me it was impossible to see the luck I had. I didn’t think that I could get accepted to Tier-1 Colleges so most of the schools I was accepted to were safties, and bad ones.
I’d say have a more than one “reach” school!
How about…listen to your guidance counselor, listen to your friends, listen to your parents and then do your own research to figure out what you want.
Don’t fall in love with just one school.
Do proper research on the colleges you plan to apply to.
Don’t base your opinion on what you’ve heard from other people - call the colleges and ask them questions time and time again until you get all your answers. Posters on CC or your friends will not know if they give good financial aid or if SATs matter as much, only the college will.
Don’t be scared.
Remember that you lose nothing from trying…
Have faith in yourself…
^^^“I wish I had known that you could fax SAT/ACT/SATII scores, I could’ve saved a good 200 dollars.”
LawlzS: Can you explain this more? Will most colleges accept faxed copies of official score reports, instead of paying College Board/ACT to send the scores directly to schools? Thanks, Ms. L
Reach higher.
Don’t settle for debt.
Use and abuse QuestBridge.
People will dismiss your accomplishments. Dismiss them.
NEVER fall in love with a school.
I did, and it just seemed so very likely I’d be accepted.
I wasn’t.
And though I agonized for days over what I could have done better- fewer typos? better essays? more interest?- in the end, maybe the factors just weren’t in my control.
Oh, and I wish I’d applied to more reach schools!
But, fairly happy with where I’m going.
When you’re applying to college, ask for help when you’re confused. Are you struggling with your essay? Are you struggling deciding on your college list? Are you having trouble with financial aid / scholarships?
ASK FOR HELP. Use CC, Use your Guidance Counselor, use your teachers. Really, it’s well-worth it.
Only thing I learned…
Sucks to be an international applicant asking for Aid. Get yourself a green card if you can.
I’m a mom, but I learned that everyone else is just as
<ul>
<li>confused</li>
<li>nervous</li>
<li>deficient in some areas</li>
</ul>
as everyone else. No one is the “perfect” candidate.
I also concur not to listen to too many other peoples opinions…opinions are like…bellybuttons. Everyone has one, and they’re all different. You will never get a
definitive answer to “which choice is best…A or B?” because that answer is different for every kid.
Choose based on the program/major you want, not the overall rep of the school.
Do your research, choose, and don’t look back or regret. Just find a way to take advantange of every opportunity at the school you chose.
I wish I had known to question my parents about finances, both what the EFC calculators will come up with and what they’re willing to contribute, BEFORE senior year. I visited one school and fell in love with it, then ended up not applying because they didn’t give merit aid and we couldn’t make our EFC… It worked out alright for me in the end, but it might not for others.
Do practice interviews with your parents’ friends or some of your teachers
or other sympathetic adults who agree to give you a critique at the end. Especially if
you know someone who does school interviews but who can’t interview you because they know you.
It will help you know what questions to anticipate, what are good and better answers and (hopefully) you will be much less nervous.
A couple of things:
Start your essays early! Or, at least, earlier than I did…then you won’t be freaking out when the due date comes closer and closer.
Make sure that you are aware of any EA deadlines that your schools might have. I thought that none of my schools had EA, but I learned after the fact that one actually did. I got in anyway, but it would have been nice to know in December that I had at least one good option in case I got rejected in all of April.
I know this is cliched, but don’t get caught up in “name brand” schools. When I would tell people that my top choice was Carleton College (I’m from the Northeast), 99% of the time they would give me a blank stare and go, “so…where’s that?” As long as YOU think it’s a fantastic place to be, stick with your heart!
And last but not least…don’t get too caught up on CC! I do love these boards, but contrart to what many CCers would have you believe, not everybody who gets into a top school has a 2300 SAT, perfect GPA, and zillions of extracurriculars. And definitely DON’T let CC intimidate you from applying to a school.
(Of course, I say this ironically, as a frequent CCer…oh well).
do what you want. The best advice possible for anyone.
If you LOVE a school and have grades enough to get in, don’t cut it off you college list just because your list is getting too long. You should be able to trim, but I have two schools that I considered, but trimming cut them off completely (Villanova + Northeastern). Since I am dependent on financial aid, I had less “real” options in the very end by deciding between two schools. The others were matches with little interest or reaches that were impossible.
I wish I hadn’t checked my email a zillion times a day and hung out at CC for at least 0.5 hours a day. If I hadn’t freaked out so much, I probably would have got better grades for my university entrance exams, which were way more important than which college I would be going to - since I submitted all my forms and had no influence on decisions.
If there’s a school that’s your top choice and it offers ED, DO IT! In a lot of the top schools with ED, half the freshman class is from the ED round and the acceptance rate is higher in the ED round. Granted, the applicants are usually stronger, but especially if you have a strong first choice and can give good reasons why you love the school, try ED. Schools like taking people who are guaranteed to matriculate, particularly if they have a low yield or tend to lose students to the Ivies.
I’m in the same boat as pwoods. Figure out which school is your number one and go ED! The process is SO much easier, although you may have to deal with heartbreak more than you would RD if you did get rejected. As much as I hate ED and what it comes with, if you have the resources and you know for sure, DO IT.
- Get a high gpa (don’t get too lazy). My highschool was complete bs. No joke: if I was not too lazy I think I could have managed to get the val/sal spot easily.
- Be a social butterfly. Connections help, whether it be with a teacher or a few students they’ll end up voting for you for student gov, or write amazing recs. (this was the case with me. call me a suck up, but this stuff works and everyone does it)
- Be honest and sincere. College Admission Counselors want honest and sincere people (along with good academics lol).
- CC is not the real world. Don’t listen to the trolls and elitist people around here. I didn’t have amazing stats and still managed to get my way through to a few elite schools. If you have a dream and passion you can get anywhere.
Favorite quote here:
What I learned: it’s okay to apply to a lot of schools, but don’t over do the safeties. Include many more “match” schools. Plan to have about 3 reaches, 7 matches, and 2 safeties. Also include some publics, and some privates. Safeties are usually LACs.
Do lots of research on the websites of the colleges you apply to. That way, you can more accurately pick the major that best suits you. (Some colleges have different name or departments for majors.)
Be sure to apply to scholarships if they offer them. Merit-based scholarships are not always automatic.
You MUST visit the colleges before decisions are made. One student I know did not get into her perfect school: Rice and then she told me she had not visited. Now i know why she didn’t get in. Same thing is true for WashU and Emory.
For me, the college process went better than I had ever imagined. I attribute this to the fact that in the long run I had done all of the right things for the right reasons. I took a schedule that not only challenged me, but allowed me to develop my unique passions and interests. I did activities that I really enjoyed and put a lot of time into. I did a lot of research on the college process and on the schools that I was in.
Did I always feel confident that I had done my best? Definitely not. This topic caused a lot of anxiety throughout high school. In particular, I worried that the quantity of extracurriculars I was involved in was too small. Because I am a very focused person, it was hard for me to feel that I was benefitting from an activity if I didn’t feel fully involved in it. However, I have learned that for this issue it is quality that matters the most. I spent way too much time worried about quantities.
I was accepted early decision and I have no regrets. It was the most logical thing to do for me. Because I did so much research on schools, I had a really good idea of what I wanted, and knew right away when I found the right school. But I agree that it is not for everyone. You need to really know what you want in a school. Also, take everything you hear and read with a grain of salt. Not everything is in black and white. If there was a concrete formula to ivy league acceptance, then it would have been discovered by now.
That would be my two cents. Good luck!