This time of year, Campus Bound counselors are working with juniors around the college exploration process. Putting together a solid college list and visiting schools is at the top of the priority list. But while that’s going on, juniors are also studying hard to earn good grades in their classes, and taking standardized exams like the SAT and ACT. And the scores are coming in. But, what happens when you get your score back and it doesn’t seem right?
Seniors, most of you have decided where you will attend next year and have even put in the deposit to secure your spot. Now you can slack off and just chill the rest of the year, right? Not so fast!! While it is time to celebrate, too much of a good thing can have bad repercussions.
It’s admission decision season! Once upon a time, applicants were either accepted or denied to a college. Then came the waitlist. Now, students can hear one of many different “answers” from colleges, and it can be confusing. It can also make the final decision process more difficult. In this blog we will try to shed some light on these different college responses and point out the potential pros and cons of each one.
You’ve worked hard on your college list and applications. You researched schools, visited as many as possible and have even written your essays and submitted all, if not most, of your applications. But this time of year, the inevitable “What if?” can set in. Parents can succumb to it just as easily as students. “What if the ideal college is out there and we just haven’t found it?” “What if I don’t get accepted anywhere?” “What if we don’t get any financial aid?”
It truly seems unfair that many colleges have January 1 application deadlines. In fact, many schools have pushed these deadlines to January 5 or January 15 in order to give students a break from having applications due on New Years Day. But even so, for students with deadlines in December, January, or even February, the holidays can be a challenging time of juggling family obligations, schoolwork, and college applications. The good news is that there are things you can do to make this time a little bit easier and less stressful.
Many colleges ask students to write a supplemental essay with the prompt, “Why are you applying to Amazing University?” Chances are you will have to write one or more of these during the application rush. Easy, right? Not so fast! This essay can be one of the more challenging essays to do correctly. It requires careful reflection and should not be put off until the last minute.
By now you have likely heard of a “safety school” and have some understanding of what that means. (Read more here) In that sense, we are talking about changes of being admitted to a particular school. But there is a newer phrase in the world of college counseling that you may want to understand better, and it is, “financial safety.” In this blog we will go over what it is, and why it makes sense to have one on your list.
I catch myself saying it often to the students I work with, “Early is better!” And, for the most part, it’s true. Admission rates are generally higher for students who apply Early Decision or Early Action, and there are many reasons for this. One of the main reasons is because colleges like students who can show genuine interest in their school by either making a commitment or submitting their materials earlier.
However, early isn’t always better. In this blog, we will go over a few key times when applying Regular is probably the better way to go.
The college application process is complicated, and it’s understandable that families would want to seek as much information as they possibly can. But, we have learned over many years of doing this work that too much advice can actually work against you. Here are a few examples when it makes sense to cut down the outside advice and maybe even trust your own gut.
As part of our Advice From Inside series, where I ask our amazing staff of college counselors and former college admission counselors to share their knowledge with student and parents, this time I asked…
“What can rising seniors do over the summer to make their fall less stressful?”