<p>After helping out many students in their college search, both online and offline, there something very important I must cite. That is that your outlook on selecting colleges is extremely important to college process.</p>
<p>There are two types of applicants that I truly worry about: Type A) The applicant that becomes emotionally attached to one school, is rejected, and is gloatingly looking for other schools to apply to. Type B) The Applicant that may have a dream school or two, but is incompetent about their stats/profile and believe they are not good enough for their dream school or any other school.</p>
<p>There are far too many people like these who end up limiting themselves, believing they arent good enough of a candidate or that there are no other schools good enough for them. My main concern is with the latter. Too many CCers look down on themselves, with questions like, what school will accept me?, that resonate from this depressed, self-doubting mindset. When you see yourself as incompetent, your choices will begin to reflect it. The quality and breadth of your list can be severely affected by your approach to finding schools. </p>
<p>I see far too many lists that read:[ul]</p>
<h2>[li]ED/EA to The Dream/Big Name University (rejected)</h2>[/li]
<p>[<em>]May take another stab at 2nd Big Name University-(may like it/may not, but I might as well just try; often the got rejected-from-Harvard-lets-try-Yale syndrome)
[</em>]Flagship State University (that Ill apply to, but not really interested in)
[<em>]Local State College (Ill apply to b/c its there and no one gets rejected from)
[</em>]3rd tier Liberal Arts College/University (
that I think is the best I could get into)
[li]The 10 Minutes from Home College (I cant get into a good school, so Ill consider going here and just living at home)[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>You must approach the college process with an attitude that you are finding schools fit for you. You should not feel that you're on a quest to find which schools might like you. Remember, you're the buyer, not them. Youre options should only be limited by your preferences and reasonability (meaning that youre list is balanced between safeties, reaches, and matches). So do not ask "what school will accept poor old me", you need to be ask, "what school has what I want?, list your preferences and what youre looking, list your stats, and then ask what are my chances at each of these? What are my safeties, matches, and reaches?</p>
<p>Finally, do not be embarrassed to post your stats. This commercialized mass-produced test does not mean youre stupid. Test-taking just might not be your specialty. If you have a 1200, that's not horrible, I'd might worry about anything below a 1050, but this test is only a piece of the application, and I stress I will not, nor should any other CCErs be judgmental of SATs. You do not need 1300+ to get into a good school And maybe you are out of range for some/most/all Tier 1 schools, but there are still nearly 3,000 others school that would consider, value, and/or fight for you.</p>
<p>I want each of you to be more confident, admire yourself, be selfish, but most of all, be proud. This is your life and your future, cradle it, take only the best that you can get, and always give only the best that you can give.</p>
<p>There are some very helpful people here that can find you schools that are right for you. The wealth of knowledge, insight, and resources on College Confidential is immeasurable. If you're willing to start the college search over with a positive outlook, then I, along with many others, are willing to give you all the advice, guidance, and support we can offer. Cre8tive1</p>