With respect to the above post, apply to more than just the top 15. I’m a Harvard freshman, but I applied to a range of schools (UMiami, Rochester, Pittsburgh, etc).
Take the SAT when you’re an underclassmen! My parents said I should wait until 11th grade, but clearly they were wrong. Take it, find what subject area gives you the most trouble, and study! Also realize that the PSAT is somewhat more important than the SAT. You want to at least be a merit commended student, if not a semi finalist or finalist. My lit teacher said a recruiter at Emory told her granddaughter that one of the main things they look at us whether or not you have a Georgia certificate of merit (that is, if you’re coming from Georgia). Also, familiarize yourself with interview questions! Because you will freeze up in an interview and say umm a million times and subsequently die. It’s happened to me more than once. Luckily, the interviews that really count for me aren’t coming up until February…
Oh, and don’t be upset if you have to attend your safety school! I visited mine and fell in love with it. It isn’t Emory ( my dream school), but it’s still an awesome place that I wouldn’t mind attending.
Ooh, another thing: for those of you who attend small high schools in the middle of nowhere (or worse, transferred from a good high school to one right before your junior year, like me), don’t lose heart! Don’t limit yourself to the community college or nearby small state school. The majority of kids that graduate from my school attend a small, mediocre state school 20 minutes downthe interstate or a nearby tech school. They don’t know a thing about applying to colleges, about considering their options, because they don’t think to ask the guidance counselors who don’t think to give us any information anyways because they probably assume that we don’t want it, that we are content to stay here and attend a school that accepts 900 CR+M scores. When I told my friends junior year to sign up for the PSAT, they told me they had already taken it last year and didn’t need to do it again. They had no idea what a national merit scholar was. But thanks to me, there are eleven in my graduating class. If you go to a school like mine, where opportunities are limited, seek information yourself. You’ll have to- I certainly did. And don’t just keep it to yourself- share it with your classmates. Don’t let your school hold you back from attending a better one in the future.
Also- this is unrelated to what I previously said- start your common app ASAP. I started in August for a November deadline because that thing is time-consuming and horrible. Also, if you’re readin this as a freshman or sophomore, document your awards, clubs, service, etc. because you will forget things you did. It’s a busy four years.
God, not eleven national merit finalists. Haha that would be insane in a 170 person class. They’re commended students.
Essays have to be “special”.
Don’t get cocky! Actually research the schools to which you apply before hand. Instead of doing proper research, I just knew people who had gotten into some schools and I applied to them. I ended up being rejected by dream school and back up and had to choose between a school I didn’t like and one that was too expensive and now I’m trying to transfer!
Don’t try to use the common app on January 1st, everything is so SLOW! I had to wait like 5mintues just to see a print preview.
I’m still in the process now, but I have finished my applications. I’m working on financial aid and scholarship stuff now. Here is one thing that NO ONE ever speaks about regarding the college application process: the financial aid applications (ie FAFSA, CSS Profile, CSS Noncustodial Profile, Taxes (filed on time)) and scholarship applications (especially when applying to like 15 in order to maximize your chances) are grueling. They are time-consuming!! They are also very important and SHOULD NOT be put off. Just saying…
The college you first fell in love with might not be the best college for you. Keep an open mind.
Shortly after you arrive at college, your SAT score no longer has any bearing on your life whatsoever.
Take time to explore the things you really love.
You’ll probably get rejected from at least one school. That’ll be okay.
Unless you’re super organized with this kind of thing, a year after you choose which college to attend, you’ll still be finding college recruitment mailings in strange places. There might even be a school that continues to send you hopeful emails long after you could have matriculated there.
Bring a stash of candy with you on move-in day. You can lure in friends with food and bribery. (Half-kidding, but seriously, people will eat all your food and I met people that way.)
Hang around teachers and faculty that you genuinely like. I’m still really fond of a lot of the people who wrote my recommendation letters and I heard they were really great because, well, we really got along, I guess. You learn a lot along the way.
If you can shadow a student at your school of choice, it’s worth it. You’re likely to get really straightforward answers about your questions and sometimes you learn things that aren’t on the website (like which dorms have nice bathrooms). For that matter, if you have an admitted students overnight, it’s worth trying to get to. I met great people at mine, including the person who wound up being my roommate.
Take care of yourself. Remember that your grades, scores, and extracurriculars are very important, but you’re important too.
The one thing I learned is that if you’re not doing what you want to do while you’re in high school you’re going to have a miserable college search.
I played clarinet all throughout middle and high school and I was moderately talented and practiced a lot and got pretty good at it. I started looking at schools based on music programs and did a bunch of visits all over the country.
Then I realized that if I did music for the rest of my life I’d be totally miserable. I wound up applying to one school that’s right in my city (UW-Milwaukee) and saving money by living at home. I’m in my second semester there right now and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a state school, sure, but it’s full of great professors and a few really awesome kids. I’m finally getting around to taking my writing seriously and developing that as well as getting involved with some student organizations. I didn’t have time for this in high school because I was so focused on a career path I realized almost too late I didn’t even want to be on.
My point is this; ignore all the external pressures and internalized pressures about what you’re going to be someday and think about what it is you’re good at. Then think about what you really want to do with your life, your dream job where money isn’t a factor. Think about what skills you wish you had. Then go through your same college search steps but use those factors you just thought up. If you get vastly different schools, it’s time to take a serious look at what you’re doing.
College has the potential to be the best four years you’ll ever experience. College can also feel like purgatory with no way to really determine what you’re going to do. Really know yourself before you start out.
Also your test scores and number of AP and Honors classes don’t mean nearly as much as a good GPA, class rank, and a solid essay that shows off who you are.
Don’t go to a super competitive public school that on paper looks like any other public school, and at which getting a 4.6 GPA is not only EXTREMELY difficult, but still not enough to land you in the top 10%. And where you have to stay up every night until 2 am just to get your homework completed.
Like I did.
that’s out of your control and almost all other students’ control ^^.
Counselors can be wrong…alot. It’s a scary thought but I learned the hard way.
Challenging yourself in your coursework is good. Challenging yourself in your coursework in ways you enjoy is even better. Chances are, by time you get to your senior year, you’ve always completed most, if not all, of your required courses. Use this opportunity to take classes about things you’re interested in! If you’re a history buff and your school has extra history classes, take those classes. If you like math, see what other classes your school has outside of calculus. Admittedly, it would be nice if those classes were AP/IB/Honors/Advanced/Shiny. But if they’re not, don’t let that stop you from taking them if you feel like you’ll truly enjoy them and do well in them!
On an opposite note, if you really hate a subject, don’t take the AP class for it. Well, at least seriously think about whether or not it’s actually worth it. Is suffering through a subject you hate during the most stressful year of high school to POSSIBLY get some college credit for a class you probably wouldn’t take anyway worth it?
I wish I had known about the admissions process my freshman year.
I would have taken all the AP’s and Honors courses. The low rigor of my soph and junior years will kill me since I’m applying to UC’s.
I wish I had known about the SAT my freshman year, and how important it is. I would have started reviewing vocab then lol.
I wish I had known that going to a private HS isn’t all that great IMHO. I should have went to a public school.
<ol>
<li>if you’re asian, you need to show strength in your ECs</li>
<li>DON’T PROCRASTINATE.</li>
<li>major awards help e.g. making AIME / USAMO</li>
<li>DON’T PROCRASTINATE.</li>
<li>study effectively</li>
<li>did i mention to NOT PROCRASTINATE?</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Don’t procrastinate. You’ve heard it a million times… Pay attention.</li>
<li>Find a way to stand out. It can be any way, but find something you’re passionate about and go crazy with it.</li>
<li>Numbers are a lot, but they really are NOT everything. Make sure you wreck that essay bro.</li>
<li>Last, don’t doubt yourself. Make sure you have some match and safety schools, but also add those 2 reach schools you dream of going to. It’s always worth a shot.</li>
</ol>
edit - and study for the SAT. That hundred dollars on a prep class will come back with thousands in scholarships if you actually do the work
Don’t procrastinate. It’s mentioned four other times on this page alone but I’m saying it again. At some point during the year there will be at least one week (if not more) where everything will come barreling down and you just won’t have the time to get it all done. Then you’ll hate yourself and that self-loathing becomes a really horrible paralytic which only makes your situation worse.
So don’t do it. That’s where I am right now and it’s awful. Get your stuff done and make your life a lot easier.
Also: make friends with your guidance counselor. Seriously. Get a recommendation from them that isn’t generic and that will make a difference because, really, think of how many generic counselor recs adcoms are reading. Give yourself just one more way to stand out.
Ace the PSAT. Don’t laugh it off and say it doesn’t matter, don’t say it isn’t worth the study time or whatever. Being able to add NMSF and then NMF to your application file is a big deal. Getting money handed to you (I’m talking full tuition and even full rides) is a big deal. Take it seriously. Take it sophomore year and figure out where you are and go from there.
Do your CSS Profile as early as possible. Use your numbers from the previous year and get it done - you can correct it after your parents file (which you should insist they do in January or February for the next four years to make everyone’s lives a lot easier).
Keep track of your awards, club activities, etc. Start your CommonApp early and get the easy but tedious stuff (address, your schedule, your standardized test records, etc.) out of the way. Pay attention to deadlines.
And try not to forget to have fun your senior year, okay? You’ll be a lot better off for it, I promise.
I’d like to extend on the procrastination.
LEARN to recognize the procrastination. You can’t stop yourself from doing it if you can’t properly identify it. If you get something assigned on Monday, and it isn’t due until next Monday, telling yourself you’ll wait until the weekend to start on it, and enjoy the next 4-5 days, IS procrastination. You have absolutely no idea what may come up by then. Just because you still have a couple of days to do the work doesn’t make it any less bad than waiting until the hour before class. Do it as soon as you get it, and enjoy the END of your week, not the beginning.
You have no idea how many people I know made/still make that mistake.
Study hard, but otherwise, do whatever the hell you like.
I was accepted to Amherst on early decision. I got excellent standardized test scores and a 3.95 unweighted GPA, but really, there was nothing particularly amazing about my application. I didn’t have 20000 community service hours or raise a hundred thousand dollars in a fundraiser or cure polio in Africa or anything. My extracurriculars were essentially limited to 2 academic competitions that I enjoyed attending on the weekend, and one summer where I volunteered at an elementary school for 3 hours/day. My common app essay was about my experiences editing Wikipedia.
Don’t worry too much about the application process. Sure, you need good grades, but otherwise, stop trying so hard and just have fun!