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We’ve all been there. (Or at least, most of us will be eventually.) Awkwardly standing there, clutching whatever college information pamphlets they handed out at the beginning of the information session and tour, riding out the awkward silence when your tour guide asks “Do you guys have any questions?” at the end of every stop. And you know you have a question. Everyone does. But you never ask.
Well, grow a pair and ask! This might be the only opportunity you have to interact with current students and take their experiences and perspectives about the university into consideration, both in deciding to apply and to attend.
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Everyone knows that after an interview with an admissions counselor, you have to send a thank-you note, email or snail-mail. (And if you didn’t know, well, there you go, now you know.) But what about beyond that? Is it okay to email them with general questions you have about the college admissions process? What about if you just want to say hi and you’re excited about the university? Or if you have any questions regarding visiting or interviewing or the campus layout?
Yes. The answer is yes. Remember, a college admissions officer is there for the students. They will always answer your questions and if they can’t, they’ll direct you to someone who can. Their entire job is to both attract students to their university and choose who will become the next members of the incoming class. So with that in mind, let’s talk about communication. Everyone has had both good and terrible experiences with College Confidential, myself included. Sometimes it had great and valuable information that you’re thankful you stumbled upon, and other times you’re almost crying because you’re reading the Chance Me thread and realizing you’re never getting into Princeton (not speaking from personal experience).
But sometimes you have to reel yourself in and realize that no matter how all-knowing and deity-like College Confidential and its posters may seem, it’s just another college forum on the internet, where you never know whether what people are saying is real or not. And for that I say, take College Confidential with a grain of salt. Every math, biology, or US history course is taught differently in each and every school throughout the United States. Which makes it almost impossible to compare the caliber of these subjects and the caliber of these students, especially when trying to make decisions on college admissions.
For that reason, an excellent indicator of mastery in a specific subject is an SAT Subject Test. It allows a standardized measure of achievement across the country and can be a valuable indicator of academic ability, in a way the normal SAT or ACT are not. So to help navigate the ins and outs of this suite of assessments, here’s a quick and comprehensive guide to all things SAT Subject Test. When you get lost in the college applications process, it’s so easy to forget about the little things - like sending SAT scores or the CSS profile - while you’re focusing on writing a stellar essay or picking which colleges to apply to.
The absolute worst thing that can happen is you write an absolutely amazing personal statement, craft wonderful descriptions for your activities, work for years for perfect standardized test scores, apply to your dream university… and figure out you didn’t send your SAT scores on time and your application was automatically rejected. Yeah… Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen - here’s a handy-dandy guide on some important timelines and deadlines to keep in mind when applying to college to make sure you avoid apocalyptic scenarios. A few of you may know (at least the seniors that are reading this), that the early decision (ED) and early action (EA) deadlines just passed, most of them being on November 1st.
And I can speak for all us seniors when I say “Hallelujah!” - at least one thing is over. But for the rest of you who are confused as to what applying early to college might mean, here’s a quick rundown of what it is and what it means in terms of both your application process and admission chances. (And no, applying early is not always a binding decision!) The time has come, fellow seniors, for us to slave over hours and hours of personal statements, activities lists, and supplemental essays with the hope that we might (just might) get into the college of our dreams. And hopefully, by this point we've already let a few of our apps venture into the unknown that is the college admissions office. But the January 1st deadline will soon be upon us.
But what happens in 6 months when you get into Princeton (by some stroke of amazing luck) but now have to deal with that $60k+ price tag? Exactly. So to avoid that sticky situation, here are some scholarships for high school seniors to apply to this college application season and maybe save some money along the way. Well, October of senior year has been an absolute great month for me. (In case you missed it, that was sarcasm.) To all you seniors out there applying to college, congratulations! For getting through this first round of applications and getting halfway through this crazy season.
Now that’s it’s officially November 1st, I am finally finally finally free (at least a little bit) and I can finally get back to some semblance of a schedule. So to commemorate this amazing and possibly short-lived freedom, what better way to spend the little free time I have to write and write and write! So this month, for the first time ever, I’ve decided to take part in NaNoWriMo! What even is a good extra-curricular activity nowadays anyway? Literally everyone plays at least one sport, plays at least one instrument, has at least one leadership position, and has so many hours of volunteering. So how do you make yourself stand out from the rest of the pack?
That is the question that plagues countless students, especially considering the crapshoot that college admissions have turned into these days. The answer? Who knows, man. But to try to take a stab at it, I’ve compiled information from many different resources, one of the most helpful being Johan Zhang, the CEO and founder of Collegevine, to give you a breakdown of what it means to be extra-curricularly active. 9/12/2017 2 Comments Suing the School SystemFor of those of you who may not have heard, Prince Ea sued the American school system last year and got 7.5 million views in settlement.
Now that school has started up again (at least where I live) I figured might as well get into the school spirit by sharing this amazing take on the American school system in all its glory. Now, I’m not saying I agree with everything he says in this video, but I agree with everything he says in this video. Watch it here, then read my take on it. *Disclaimer: I actually love school. The school system… the jury’s still out. (Ha! I made a joke.) |
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