Hello rising seniors!
As Lewis Carroll wrote in his poem, The Walrus and the Carpenter,
“The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.’”
Welcome to the summer before your senior year, and the big push to complete your college applications! And though your thoughtful application may or may not talk about cabbages and kings, completing as much as possible over the summer will reduce stress during the busy fall and help you submit stronger applications that are authentically you.
I can hear you all saying, “I’m so tired, I just finished a brutal junior year!” I get it! And this is why I’m writing this blog – to help you break down the process into manageable bits. Like I always tell my students, you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time. So let’s do this!
In basic terms, if you follow this rubric with tips along the way, you’ll be much happier when the fall comes. To start, make a list of everything you need to complete:
Teacher Recommendations – Try to ask your teachers before you leave school for the summer; they’ll appreciate your organization and the time you give them to complete them.
Create a Resume – this will be important information to give teachers for their recommendations, something you can add to your college application, and use to curate your top 10 activities for the Common Application Activities List.
Test Prep – if testing is a strength, or if you’re close to improving your scores to a range where your preferred college admits, then by all means, take advantage of the summer to prep, test, and repeat! Often, prepping and testing in the summer before your senior year yields the best results since you’ve just completed your junior year and have all that awesome knowledge, and your brain isn’t full of required schoolwork.
Visit Colleges – while visiting, think about whether you can see yourself at that school. Study their major options to see if they have what you think you want to study. Review your chances for admission – think of all you bring to the application – your GPA, test scores, if any, the rigor of your classes, extracurricular activities, community service, and summer activities – educational, job-related, and independent projects, and review each college’s standards for their accepted students. Analyze if you feel confident placing the school on your list for Reach, Target, and Likely options.
Review Admission Rounds – Early Action, Early Decision, Regular Decision, Rolling – being strategic with which round you apply can make a difference, so look up early admission rates vs. regular admissions rates, check out the differences between being an in-state student versus out-of-state, and those admission percentages.
Common Application – if you haven’t yet, open an account and begin answering the questions.
- Curate your top 10 activities (using your resume) and enter them into the Activities List.
- Write drafts of your Personal Statement. Write drafts of commonly used themes in the Common App College Application portion:
- Community – what is one in which you belong that’s meaningful to you
- Extracurricular Activity that you can’t live without
- Academic – what is your academic passion, and how would you take advantage of studying this in college
- Why do you want to attend X college/university? Think of all the college research you did when making your college list – use those details to make this essay compelling.
Financial Aid/Scholarship research – starting this process early will help alleviate the stress when the FAFSA application opens and let you see what essays, if any, are required for scholarships ahead of time.
Phew! That’s a lot! How the heck am I going to accomplish this, you may ask?
- Set smaller weekly goals and create a visible calendar to track your progress.
- Use reminders and checklists to stay organized.
- Update your calendar regularly as deadlines or requirements change, or if you have family obligations or travel that make weekly goals impossible.
Don’t forget to schedule downtime to avoid burnout!!! You should STILL HAVE FUN this summer because if you don’t rest, you won’t have the success you’ll need as a student when you return to school in the fall.
I’ve counseled hundreds of students, and I am confident in your ability to succeed!
Remember: “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
So, stop wishing and PLAN to make your dreams come true!
