Phew! The college search, application, and selection process is all over for me and I am absolutely stoked to be attending a school that fits me to a T–New College of Florida–in the fall. Here’s what I have learned and wish I had known:
-Apply early! Many schools have non-binding Early Action programs that allow you to apply early (usually in November) and receive an admission decision early (usually in January/February). I applied EA to all the schools on my list that offered the option. I think it is a great way to show your organization and readiness, and admit rates are usually higher for those who apply EA.
-On Early Decision: only apply to a school ED if you are 100% sure you want to go there and very nearly 100% sure you can afford to do so. It is a binding agreement. I very nearly applied to a school ED that I later decided wasn’t the absolute best fit for me. I’m very glad that I decided to wait to apply there Regular Decision. Don’t apply ED anywhere without doing some serious soul searching first.
-A safety school is not a school that you’re pretty sure you’ll get into. A safety school is a school that you are almost certain you’ll get into based on 1) a whole lot of precedent (i.e. you know many people who were accepted with stats similar to or beneath yours) or 2) numbers you have found from a reputable source (i.e. the school’s Common Data Set). A safety school is also a school that you are 100% certain you can afford and a school that you would, if it came down to it, enjoy attending. My safety school was The Evergreen State College, a wonderful, quirky public college in my home state (Washington) with a 94% acceptance rate.
-Find the Common Data Sets for the schools on your list. They are a truly invaluable resource. There’s a list of them on CC and you can find them on your colleges’ websites if you search for “Common Data Set,” “Institutional Data,” or sometimes “Fact Book.” It was really helpful for me to see the SAT and ACT score ranges and the other statistics that each school puts out–it gave me a really good idea of where I stood stats-wise with my schools. Keep in mind that at many colleges admissions are getting more selective by the year, though.
-Apply to your state’s flagship. I really regret crossing The University of Washington off of my list. Although it wasn’t what I was looking for–I wanted (and found!) a small, quirky, intellectually intense liberal arts college–I really regret not having had it as an option, especially when some financial game-changers cropped up and I started to doubt whether or not I would be sufficiently challenged at my safety.
-Take both the SAT and the SAT–and take them twice. The SAT and the ACT are very different tests–the SAT is more of an aptitude test and the ACT is more of an achievement test. The SAT has trick questions; the ACT has a Science section. The essays also ask very different things of you. There’s really no way of knowing what test you’ll score higher on, so I think it’s prudent to take them both. You may come out with scores that are equivalent to one another like me, but hey–no harm done! I think it’s best to take each test twice as well to increase your familiarity with the test and with testing procedures. While the PSAT, the PLAN, and at-home practice tests are very helpful, they aren’t the real deal and you won’t be in the same mindset while taking them. I chose to take the SAT and the ACT cold the first time just to see how I did but I regret that–I think I could have done a lot better on the math section had I allowed myself more study time.
-If you can’t visit a school, do the next best thing. Whether it’s for financial reasons or you’re just too busy, it sometimes isn’t feasible to visit every school on your list. If you can’t, it is still in your best interest to attend a information session in your area or schedule an interview with a visiting admissions counselor. These events typically happen in the fall, so make sure you plan for them early. You can also schedule an interview with an alumnus in your area, but it is my understanding that these interviews sometimes hold less weight. You can also email your admissions counselor saying that while you are unfortunately unable to visit, you want to express interest in the school–then ask them some thoughtful questions about the school.
-Dialogue with your parents about finances and dialogue with a financial planner too. Make sure you know where you stand so you won’t have any surprises. My family unfortunately ran into a big surprise: our EFC was 40k, not 20-25k as we had expected. It ended up working out alright due to merit aid (phew!), but I wish we would have seen that coming. A few really great schools got crossed right off my list because, while I was accepted, we could not afford them at all.
-Check out Loren Pope’s “Colleges that Change Lives.” It’s chock full of hidden gems that you might want to check out. I found this book after I had sent in my applications, but four out of the seven colleges I applied to ended up being in this book!
-Be genuine. Trying to read admissions counselors’ minds is (unless you’re a Jedi or something) totally futile. You’re not going to be able to know what they want you to say in an interview or what they want to read in your essay, so give them what you have: your honest-to-Ra self. That’s probably what they’re looking for anyway. You want to attend a school that’s a good fit for you. Part of their job is determining how good of a fit you are for the school. If things line up, they line up. And if they don’t, they don’t.
-Take everything you’re told with a grain of salt. Resources like CC are great, but the college admissions game is ever-changing and incredibly complex–you really have to figure things out for yourself.
-Don’t get wrapped up in rankings. They aren’t definitive. They are imperfectly formulated. They should influence you very little.
-Don’t take rejections personally. Admissions officers are in the business of creating classes. I see it as being very much like the casting of a play: there can only be one person playing each role (okay, so there can be multiple people from a certain geographic region or with the same career intent, but it’s limited) and the entire cast has to be cohesive. It’s a puzzle, and if you don’t fit into it at a particular institution, that’s okay. Getting rejected from a college does not strip you of your knowledge, your ability, or your ingenuity–you know you possess those things. Move forward. They haven’t rejected you, they have rejected a few pieces of paper with your name on it for their particular college for this particular admissions cycle.
