What I should’ve done: College Applications Edition

What is the problem?

I can’t stress enough over a single application— let alone, multiple all at the same time. I wish I had prepared in advance, but it didn’t occur to me until the end of June. In advance, I wanted to make a list of things to do that I believe, were mistakes to what I could’ve done better as we reach the end of state school application deadlines:

Research colleges

You have to be most definitely, in-depth with the amount of research you do— from education, to location, their connections, their alumni association, their community, their traditions… and the list goes on. Surprisingly enough, I find myself switching around colleges during the summer so often due to the lack of research I had conducted within the colleges I was looking into. It is time-consuming, especially if you are considering out-of-state, for the sake of guaranteeing a certain amount of safety for yourself— of course, it all comes down to your preferences. Looking into their college visits is a must-do early on, preferably during your junior year, even earliest as to freshmen year.

Drafting your essays

Many colleges do use the same prompt every year. Some may change throughout each admission cycle, which would make it harder to prep in advance to solidify your own essay. Those who do use the same prompt, it would be best for anyone to prep those supplemental essays in advance and polish it up to the best they can! The essays are crucial to considering a spot in college and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Everything in the application matters to a certain extent no matter what. With essays, I found myself taking time away from them to make sure that I do not “idealize” it, so that I could find the words, sentences, and even mistakes, that stuck out the most to me… of course, in a way where it is not preferable to me. I cannot say whether or not if the essay is “good” or “bad,” but it is to the best of my ability to get my word out in the best way possible.

DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!

As much as people do it during senior year, it is not a good habit to procrastinate! It is the worst of the worst habits, especially during the college applications season! I found many people in many classes procrastinating on their essays, which takes back to the previous section. It is obviously, terrible, to procrastinate— not when you have to prioritize polishing up essays, finalizing your CommonApp (or other application portals) and making sure that everything is how you want it to be before the deadline.

Ask teachers beforehand for letter of recommendation

It is extremely important to ask teachers for letter(s) of recommendation. You have to make sure that they are available to send a letter— so that you don’t miss the deadline. To add onto that, connecting with your teachers is necessary beforehand too! It’s how they will be able to write a letter for you! The trouble the comes with letter of recommendations is choosing wisely; who knows you the best? Who has experienced your extravagant personality that you have outside of the classroom? Is that teacher a popular one, that you know everyone would ask for a letter? Do keep in mind, academic discipline is considered in the letter as well.

Your counselor is your best friend

From my experience, I never had expected the counselor to be the most important figure throughout the whole application process, until I had finally became a senior this year. They are the ones who have the most information regarding each step to guide you through, with the exception of your writing supplementals and attempting to obtain letter of recommendations from other teachers. They are here to guide you, but they do emphasize the fact that they do not directly affect your chances of getting into a college. Surprisingly, building a relationship with them would allow for getting to know each other as an individual and a student/counselor. Regarding any part of the process, they definitely do know what they are doing as a counselor.

Setting up the application portal

The CommonApp from my experience, was not fun at all, even ApplyTexas. I had to be introduced to multiple sections that I had to fill out on my own and resorting to asking my parents on their current employed jobs, estimated income, and etc. While it looks easy and straightforward, I ended up taking about an estimate of two to three days to filling it out completely prior to submitting my personal statement through the application. The sections are annoyingly long, but in the end, you do have to fill them out regardless. Without filling the entire CommonApp, you will not be able to submit the application.