Attention New High School Seniors: It’s Crunch Time!

Congratulations, you’re the big woman/man on campus! If you’re interested in college, it’s crunch time!

Did you hit the beach and pool all summer and put off doing those beginning steps to selecting a college and writing your essays for your college applications? Did you procrastinate? No problem! Take a deep and get serious this weekend. It’s time to buckle down and make a plan this Labor Day Weekend. You can get a lot done!

First, get a pen & notebook and write this down. Read the following blog all the way through and let your thoughts bubble to the surface. Secondly, as ideas pop into your head, take note of them. After you read it a second time, start making a plan on a calendar for this weekend: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Finally, after you start on collegeboard. org and find the schools you’re interested in, create calendars for September-January marking important due dates and planning for daily and weekend writing of your essays.

Whether you are an athlete, drama cast, or musician/artist, it is important to start filling out the applications and looking at visual tours of the universities and colleges that interest you. Go online and submit your preferences on the type of college you want to attend based on demographics, population, drama or art facility, or Division I, II, or III of collegiate athletics. There are many on line, but www.collegeboard.org is one of the best places to start.

By putting in the characteristics of what you want in a college, it can provide you with the requirements for submissions. There are areas such as whether they take your SAT or ACT score, the essay topic, their due dates for early action or regular submission and much more. Need to improve an ACT or SAT score? Figure out where to retake and register now!

You should consider how large of a population you want your future college to be as well as its location. If you don’t mind snow and cold weather as part of your experience, look into schools on the east coast. Remember, if you are from an area such as CA, the colleges, mainly UCs, only accept certain percentage of CA students. The rest will be selected from out-of-state.

Furthermore, this website will also let you know which colleges will likely accept YOU. By putting in your GPA, sports skills, residence, theater abilities, community service, and outside hobbies, you will find out which universities and colleges will be likely to accept you before you begin their application and essays. This helps avoid wasting your time on schools that will most likely not accept you.

Once you have a list of about 8-10 schools that will accept you based on your grades, sports, arts, and outside experiences, now it’s time to schedule time every day to write the essays. There is the Common Application that all schools want to see, which might be the first essay to begin. Yes, as you read the different topics for each school, you will see that you can borrow paragraphs here and there from other essays you have been writing. Be sure to stick to the topics and use only paragraphs that give a full and complete answer. Using the same essay to try to get it to fit another’s topics is frowned upon.

As you begin to schedule the writing of these essays, you will see that there is not much time left for a after your extracurricular activities. As an athlete or artist, your time is taken up by many practices and events.  This writing process is important, but so is your sanity. Be sure to schedule some time with friends, but be realistic about your time. School has already started, so if you are playing a sport every day, you will have to schedule your writing during the weekends.

Remember there will not be a lot of time at the beginning of senior year. There are many senior events and if you are an athlete, all your down time is consumed with staying on top of your studies. Keep in mind that universities and colleges look at your senior year grades as well. They want to offer scholarships to those who will consistently make good grades, so be sure your grades aren’t forfeited because you’re bogged down with college essays at the beginning of your senior year. Plan accordingly.

Get excited about the process even though you are entering the arena a little late. No reasons why you can’t get the essays done, fill out the appropriate applications, and work on getting your letters of recommendation from past teachers. My first college bound child didn’t start until the end of September and still had enough time to apply for early action with some universities. It’s all about how much you want it. Don’t use the excuse that you’re late. She ended up showing her success in the pool and her AP grades. She was a collegiate swimmer (left behind #8) receiving 90% scholarship of their $50,000+ year tuition. So go for it!

Now, start thinking about scheduling time to put together video clips of your sport, drama plays, and debates. Prepare the best selections and send those out to the athletic or theater directors of the schools you are most interested. When put in the right hands, these videos can help you receive more scholarship. Because a Division I or II school pretty much owns their athletes, my girls selected Division III schools with their sports. They focused on the schools that were the best for their careers and fields of study. The coaches who see your amazing videos will go to their department heads and get your scholarship money. Yes, Division III schools don’t give athletic scholarships, but the department heads will look at your scholar side of grades, extracurricular activities, and community service.

Since most schools will not honor your athletic scholarship if injured, be sure to cover yourself by having other options. By researching schools where you can get the best knowledge for your career, you will study at a university where you can spread your wings as an athlete as well as learn every important aspect for your future.

November is usually the important date for those seeking early action. Early action is a way to apply to some colleges that are your favorites. (Not all schools offer early action.)This is usually done by students that have done extensive college research, have found a college(s) that strongly matches academically, socially, and geographically,  meet and exceed in the SAT/ACT requirements, and has an academic record that has been consistently solid over time. By applying by the early action dates, you benefit from admissions seeing your name before others who apply later in January/February. It is a way of putting your best foot forward and shows them you really want to attend their school. Since less people do early action, the admissions department spends more time looking at your application.

As a scholar athlete, be sure to fill out the school’s sports questionnaire form. It will alert the athletic director and coaches of that college you are interested in playing with them. Even though you are working on this late, be sure to send them ASAP. My daughter filled this out and sent video to the head coach. The coach of this Division III University followed up with her by phone call and email as well as going to the business departments of the school. She received 90% of their tuition every year because of her volleyball skills, but most importantly for her high grades. So if you are a successful skilled athlete but a bit late, schedule this to be completed quickly. It will definitely pay off, literally.

Not everyone wants to go far from home when attending college, but it you don’t mind and want to live in different seasons, be sure to look at colleges across the country. Both of my CA daughters found private liberal arts schools on the east coast. Because they knew they would only be there for four years, they picked schools with amazing foliage and snow days. They were lucky to have family friends and some family on the east coast. Although they didn’t fly home for Thanksgiving, they make it home for every Christmas and summer. We have adjusted to spending Thanksgiving differently with our college girls by finding different friends and family to share the holiday. The most important thing about finding a school on the east coast is they offer more scholarship to students from the west coast in order to be more diverse and vise versa.

After reading this your head is probably ready to explode. It is a lot of information to take in so reread it a few times. As you begin the college process, remember if you are a bit late, it is important to start your essay writing. Begin to make notes on a calendar, make to-do lists, and schedule your essay writing for the fall weekends.

There may be college consultants in your area, so take time to seek them out. Even though this seems difficult and intricate, take your time. Include your parents, family members, and even your high school teachers. Think about emailing your essays to your past or present English teachers, they will be happy to help. It is customary to send a cover letter asking for their time to read and critique your writing and be sure to say thank you with a card and small token.

As you begin finishing the research, applications and essays, you will notice how much time it all takes. Remember, you’re a senior and it’s time to start acting like one. Take responsibility in your future. Don’t wait thinking you have lots of time this fall, you really don’t. Open the laptop and get a move on! Get moving on selecting your future college, you will not regret it.

Most of all enjoy the process. Every time you feel you hit a wall, talk it out with your parents, sibling, or friend. Don’t forget that as a senior, you have a guidance counselor at school to help. Remember, it is only fear creeping in and trying to scare you. Keep a smile on your face, put as much time and effort into the process, and have fun. Good luck on your future endeavors, it will work out the way you want it!

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