If you’re a high school student, especially in their junior or senior year. In that case, you’ve likely thought quite thoroughly about the upcoming prospect of a college admission. While many choose not to engage in higher education, those who do will often find it an important decision. I, the unnamed RuReady intern, have recently finished the long procedure of preparing, applying, and ultimately choosing a college to spend my future. I believe that my fresh and extensive experience could seriously help guide those soon to be in my position.
his series of blog posts will serve as a checklist for those entering the time-consuming task of college applications.
To begin this series, I’d like to start by addressing a question that one may often ask themselves as they begin to consider applying to colleges, that being the broadest possible question of “Where do I even start?” Though, truthfully, I find the question of when one starts to hold even more importance. While it’s a good idea to start thinking about where to apply and what to write about in your college essay concept, I’ll expound upon this in a future article—over the summer between junior and senior year, the heftier half of your work will likely reside within your final year of high school. This is an important thing to consider when picking out classes and activities for one’s senior year, as one must always keep in mind the significant amount of time and effort that will have to be dedicated to the application process. This is not permission to underachieve during one’s senior year but a call to reconsider one’s schedule. The process of preparing your college admissions can be very time-consuming, especially if you intend to apply to many colleges, and you’ll need to find somewhere in your schedule to incorporate that time if you want to ensure a high-quality application.
Though to answer that diverted question of where one should start when applying to colleges, the simple answer is the Common App. Practically every American institution accepts the Common App, an online collection of questions that cover a variety of topics to project a general image of an applicant to all of the colleges to which the applicant applies. In addition to the Common App, each college also tends to have their own set of questions tailored to the more specific interests of each specific institution. Importantly, one of the Common App questions requires that you answer in the form of an essay, which is an opportunity to showcase the complexities of your individual being and your own abilities as a writer. Additionally, many colleges will expect you to write an essay that answers a question more specific to their strengths. While these essays tend to lie on the shorter side, their strict word limits can ultimately pose a challenge, as there may be many things you’d like to write about that you simply lack the space to put in words.
Ultimately, the goal of this series is to put you in a ready position to begin the process of applying to colleges. In my next post, I’ll explain the first step in such a process: choosing which colleges to send your application to. I’ll be going into detail about finding which school is the right fit for your interests, gripes, and constraints, and I’ll further discuss the concept of choosing how many schools to apply to.
Please feel free to share your own experiences in the comment box below.
Your shared thoughts may help someone else going through a similar experience. Thank you.
Good Luck and Stay Ready, My Friends.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this document is informational only and does not constitute professional advice or recommendation.