Apply to a couple of unlikelys! I applied to a top 5 LAC and was likely to get rejected bc of my low GPA and test scores. However, i ended up getting accepted with a fantastic financial aid package! The moral of the story is, reach for some really tough schools and see what happens. You just may get in!
It would be naive to say ignore the rep of the school. This is an important attribute! But also look at the details!
Educate yourself. Read up on where your applying, and don’t have unrealistic expections. While it’s good to reach for the hest of the best, know your stregnths and weaknesses, and know whether it would be possible to be accepted with these qualities. Knowing a lot about the schools your applying to will set you apart, because a lot of people apply to Harvard and Yale, etc at random, and don’t know anything about the programs.
Be specific in your essays. Show, don’t tell. And definitely show them what you plan to pursue with your degree.
NEVER NEVER fall in love with a school. I visited my first choice, and was in absolute LOVE, but upon my arrival home, I detached myself immediately. It definitely softens the blow if you don’t get accepted. Assume failure! It makes the process so much easier!
Never cut a school out bc of financial aid, just take it into consideration and look for scholarships!
Also, I think no one can tell you how many schools to apply to. But I did the trusted 2:3:2 ratio. And it really works! 2 REACHES: 3 MATCHES: 2 SAFTIES. Don’t spread yourself too thin. I’d keep it under 10 schools, so that you can concentrate on positioning yourself as your BEST possible self, and making sure your essays are amazing.
Highlight your stregnths, and don’t be afraid to ask for favors. My sis has been researching college stuff since her freshman year in high school. Her entire freshman year she took regular classes and no honors or AP courses. With the help of CC, she was able to transition into higher courses, and gain great EC’s and eventually gained acceptance into Brown Univ last year. Basically, if you have a few weaknesses, don’t let that discourage you from applying! Even though I have a lot of pride, I asked her for help. She helped me make a resume, and proof read my essays. She helped a lot with positioning…more than I even thought possible. It was hard, because your ego may get crushed a bit. But overall, I was pleased with my results. Also, posting your essays on my c h a n c e s in the essay reading section would help. Someone caught a bunch of grammatical errors on mine.
Make sure one of your safeties is also an economic safety. Don’t waste the summer before your senior year. Familiarize yourself with the applications for each school you’re interested in, and get a good start (or finish) on some essays. Know the deadlines for each school.
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<li>dont apply to too many colleges. try keep it to ten so that you can spend more energy on each application and hence enhance the applications quality.</li>
<li>read the class of 2014 admissions posts on various universities forum. the admission stories and stats posted by the students will give you a rough idea about a lot of factors influencing the admission decision which is not very obvious on the official website or other published sources.
3.especially international students looking for scholarships,if your planning to send application to schools with rolling admissions or non binding ED then send them the app as soon as the are open to receive it. generally its state or govt schools which have rolling admissions and they really dont ask much of essays so you shouldn’t have a problem doing so. dont procrastinate it till the end thinking that they are your safety. I did that and missed a wonderful opportunity to secure scholarships at 2 universities. on the other hand last year there were ppl with much lower( they had 1800 something on sat and i had 2050) stats than mine getting a scholarship.</li>
<li>Buy Fiske’s essays that worked. it has amazing guidance on how to write coll essays. MUST buy or read.</li>
<li>and lastly, dont apply to coll blindly on rankings. ex- if your planning to apply to top schools then dont simply apply to Harvard because its no 1. maybe princeton is a better fit for you or maybe yale. read coll guides,browse **************.com and studentreviews.com and see what others have to say about the coll. look at what ppl say are the +ve aspects-does it excite you. look at the -ve aspect-does it concern you. is the coll missing out on something you really want.
this way even in the worst scenario if you have to choose a safety school then it wont prick you much because you have to go to some place which you liked and feel have opportunities which u would want to have in your coll.<br>
best of luck</li>
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Don’t apply to super random safeties. I applied to a couple “just because” - huge waste of money.
Consider private college counseling. I go to a large, underfunded public school that is more concerned with getting students in and out in four years than it is on college planning. In retrospect, I wish I’d used a private college counselor to help me pick my schools, work on essays, etc.
Start applying for scholarships early in the year. The deadlines are literally completely scattered around the calender, and the ones earlier in the year have less competition.
Visit before applying. Try not to fall completely in love with a school until you’re in.
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<li>Take risks. That’s what high school is for. Do activities you never thought you would enjoy. Meet people you never thought you would like. Take classes you never imagined doing well in or have any interest in. Don’t turn high school into a miserable, stressful four years to prepare for college. </li>
<li>Think about the money. I definitely did not even read the financial aid stuff until last minute. I would really read it in the summer before you apply and get to understand how many scholarships you should aim for. Talk to counselors who know how much aid people in your area receive. </li>
<li>Don’t just focus on what will get you into college. Live. Do things you enjoy. Maybe you aren’t the best at grades or SATs. Then maybe a “world-renowned” ivy league is not for you. Find a college you will fit into, not the college your parents want you to fit into or your friends fit into. Use high school to figure out yourself.</li>
<li>Definitely still do the basics, maintain good grades, standardized test scores, etc. But don’t obsess. At my school the people who got into the best colleges either had no lives (worked four jobs, had insomnia, played in three orchestras) or didn’t really worry about college. If you focus on just enjoying the moment you will be much happier the rest of your life. </li>
<li>Still go for your dreams. Make sure they are your dreams, not your parents’, peers’, or anyone else. </li>
<li>Visit schools before the acceptance deadline to give you better airfare costs, etc. I can’t visit one of the schools I like because there is just no time.</li>
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Don’t make any decisions that you might regret in the future. Don’t ever go forward in life thinking, “Would I have gotten into this school otherwise?”
That’s how I felt about early decision. I nearly decided to apply early decision to Duke. Fortunately, I didn’t. I felt that my chances were greater with early decision and that I would never get into my dream school (which I did). Always take the chances and see how your luck plays out. Knowing how things panned out will leave no regrets for the future. I know now that Harvard wasn’t the school for me and it turns out that Duke wasn’t either. Go in with your head held high and never regret any decisions you make!
Unlike nluu0929, I took the same risk but did not get into my dream school(s). I don’t regret my decision, but I am just putting it out there that the chances are so low to schools like Stanford that sometimes you need to make that decision.
As to what I realize in hindsight. For people who like most coveted Ivies: Princeton likes academics. Harvard likes leadership, especially politically active leadership roles. Stanford (even though it’s not an ivy) is harder for me to classify; I would say they look for creativity. Yale is even harder for me to classify… so I won’t.
Thus, I wish I didn’t dedicate my time to grades, which seem to be so easily sacrificed these days, and extracurriculars (I did what I enjoyed and have no regrets but they happened to be all somewhat academically related.)
Start working diligently from the beginning of high school unwavering through the end. I made the mistake of not taking high school seriously, and I never minded going to a state school. Little by little I met those with not only different passions, but they were good at what they loved, and their hard work paid off when they were accepted into the most prestigious schools, ready to take on the world and enjoy what it has to offer. Now I’m stuck in my hometown, the only place I’ve ever seen, something I could have prevented if I only worked a little harder.
Most schools don’t offer the type of support that is really necessary to maximize college placement, at least that is true of the public school my children attend/attended. There is just no way one or two college counselors can give proper attention to a class of 200-600 kids. My nephew and niece attend a private boarding school that has a graduating class of 125 kids, 3 full time college counselors and nearly unlimited resources/connections to the college world. If my son had enjoyed this type of guidance (they start working with kids in the 9th grade), he would have been much happier with his final college decision (he is going to a great state school, but we believe he could have done better with more guidance).
So, for our daughter, we are not going to sit back and hope that she is getting the college counseling she needs. After talking to my sister about her kids and the boarding school they attend, I found out that they are offering a summer program for rising 10th and 11th graders. We can’t afford a boarding school education, but this a one week intensive camp designed to give kids every advantage in the process (essay writing, test prep, college visits, one-on-one college counseling time, resume building and a personalized list of colleges when they leave). The director is the former president of the association for college counselors. The school is Mercersburg Academy ¶ and here is a link to the camp [Mercersburg</a> College Prep | Mercersburg Summer](<a href=“http://www.mercersburgsummer.com/programs/college-prep/]Mercersburg”>http://www.mercersburgsummer.com/programs/college-prep/). We are excited to be sending our daughter because she’ll get more attention in a week than my son got in 4 years. As far as I know, there are very few other programs out there that offer all of this in one week.
I feel like I had a good experience with the college admissions process and I hope that these tips will help any of you out there!
-Try the ACT and the SAT at least twice! Most of my classmates only took the SAT a few times and only a small percentage even tried the ACT. I did okay the first time I took the SAT and then saw my score go down quite a bit the second time. I took the ACT three times and increased all three times and finally got the score I needed. Many people did better on the ACT than on the SAT… please just try it!
-If you do take the ACT, don’t read the long intros to the science questions. Only go back if a question has an answer located within the intro. A good amount of questions only require a quick skim or just looking at the graph.
-Don’t rule out a college just because it seems like you wouldn’t get in. I got into a selective college that I didn’t think I would get into and feel so lucky.
-Don’t rule out a college with a ridiculous “sticker price.” I’ve seen some people get great financial aid from really expensive schools but I, too, have seen people get horrible ones from expensive schools and cheap schools. You never know.
-When you don’t feel like working on an assignment or something, go on your dream college’s site and remind yourself why you’re working so hard. I found this to be helpful. I hung pictures and logos for my college in front of my desk and found myself looking up at it every time I felt like stopping.
-Don’t let one bad college visit or whatever ruin your impression. My friend now LOVES a college she wasn’t in love with on her first visit.
Good luck to everyone applying to college this year!
I don’t know if people already mentioned this, but essays are very very important! Don’t slack off on them, because it will come back to haunt you! Also, try not to fret about SAT/ACT scores as much, they’re not as important as you think (though you should, of course, try your best on them). Your transcripts are very important (more important than scores), so make sure you have good grades. But DON’T be discouraged to apply to your “reach” schools, because you’ll never get in if you don’t try! Good luck to everyone apply to colleges next year! It’s a trying process, but it’ll be worth it!
I wish I had known more about my parents financial situation before I applied. I always assumed that we wouldnt discuss it until after i got into college. However, it is a bit frustrating to get into a school you really want to go to but not be able to afford it. I am still very happy to be going were I am. :). On a related note, I wish that I applied to schools that offered more merit aid, since I’m usually not eligible for a lot of financial aid, but that doesn’t mean my family can pay 200000 for college.
Apply for financial aid EARLY. Don’t apply to a bunch of schools you know you can’t afford. I know you’re gonna counter me by saying “But there’s always scholarships and loans, right???” YES there’s financial aid, but in the long run, choosing to go to a $50k private school a year is going to result in you paying off loans for a long, long time. Is it worth it? This is up to you and your family. If you want to be in debt, fine. But you should always consider your cheaper (and just as worthwhile) options, as well.
Don’t apply to any school that you wouldn’t consider going to.
Love your safety schools. They shouldn’t be places that you simply settle for. They should be places you can also envision yourself as a student at.
DO YOUR RESEARCH! I know one girl who ended up hating every single college she applied to and is now fervidly scrambling to find places that still accept applications. Don’t get yourself in this predicament! Seriously, write down what you want out of a college. It doesn’t matter how LAME it is… it doesn’t matter if one of your biggest criteria is whether or not there will be a Burger King within a 10 mile radius. If that’s what will enhance your happiness and well-being in the next 4 years, then it’s important and you should take it into consideration.
Don’t let your parents choose where you’re going. Obviously you will need to tell them everywhere you apply and reach a consensus about your list of schools, but in the long run, remember that you will be the one who’s spending the next 4 years of your life there. Don’t let your parents guilt-trip you into going to a school you don’t care about (“But honey, I was an alumni at this school and I loved it!”) Just because your mom loved it doesn’t mean that you will.
Don’t automatically neglect your senior year. Even if you think colleges won’t factor this year into admissions, many (private schools in particular) will. Strong mid-year grades can sway admissions in your favor. So whatever you do, especially in the 1st semester of your senior year, stay focused.
Princeton = academics
Harvard = Leadership, especially politically active leadership
Stanford = creativity?
Yale =
Columbia = demonstrated problem solving in a creative way
Dartmouth = Leadership (but not focused on politics)
UPenn =
Brown = diversity
Cornell = focused passion?
It’s a mistake to assume that you’ll be accepted at schools for which you appear to be over-qualified. If an admissions office looks at your wonderful credentials and then looks at the fact that you’ve never visited the campus or contacted them, they’re apt to think that you’re treating them as a safety school. And you probably are. They’ll have little incentive to accept you if they think you’ll be going elsewhere: if they accept you and you reject them, it only reduces their yield rate.
If you’re going to apply to a college, take it seriously: visit the campus if at all possible. Do an interview if they expect it. Show some interest. That way, you’re not likely to have the rude shock of finding out that a school you’re well qualified for doesn’t want you.
writing is the least important factor.
math is all that matters.
do as many EA applications as possible.
if you think you have a chance at a school, apply to it.
do a few really long reaches.
I worked really hard on my gpa, took advanced classes, spent months on my essays, and loaded impressive activities on my resume. my parents took me to an admissions officer late junior year and she said everything was up to par for my dream (Stanford) except my sat scores and told me to work really hard over the summer to get my test scores higher. i thought she wasn’t being realistic and i thought i needed more activities to stand out against other applicants. so I instead continued to work on my resume over the summer, and well, did not leave enough time to study for the SAT.
as a result, i have 1000’s of extracurricular/community service hours, a lot of awards, a horrible sat score, and a rejection letter from Stanford.
My lesson learned: Activities, recommendations, essays, they are all important. But SAT scores/GPA ALWAYS come first no matter what!
wow…what a process…my son only wanted to apply to MIT and that would have been a huge mistake!!! He applied to MIT early decision after much convincing and applied to more acceptable colleges. He was rejected at MIT…accepted into every other school but boy were the aid/scholarship packages extremely different. If we would have understood the process better. Especially with the economy the way it is. He was awarded two Presidential scholarships-but out of state tuition still made them very expensive. The private college even with $10,000 scholarship is expensive and the cheaper college he was awarded almost a full ride he was not remotely interested in. Every time he visited he loved each college but then when he did get into a more prestigious college all his teachers and friends are telling him go there. That college awarded the least scholarship because the told me they don’t award merit scholarship because all their students are smart. Well I tell all parents don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call, also email admissions, deans of the department they want to major in and ask for more scholarship $$. I did and we received more $$ when I played the Presdential Scholarhips award we received $10,000. So ask…I just think it was a very stressfull process and a huge expense that I think most parents are not truly prepared for in this economy. We will never get to retire…haha…c’est la vie!!!
I wish I had done what I really wanted to do. Don’t go to a college because your parents think you should go there. Try to convince them to let you go where you really want to go. And go to a place with a lot of academic offerings, so you have choices.
