Advice for College Bound Seniors
NEIRAD enilno edition
Load printer friendly version
Dear seniors,
As you have finally reached your last year of high school and the prospect of leaving the DHS community draws nearer there is one obstacle that stands between you and graduation in June. I’m sure many of you may be sitting in the library or your newly acquired “senior café” reading this thinking you have made it to your senior year and that the hardest parts are behind you. In some aspects you are correct, but there is still the tiny aspect of applying to college in which you have to deal. Now I do not want to scare you and make you think applying to college is the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do, because it’s not, but rather give you some tips or rough guidelines to help you survive the process.
Early Fall:
By this point some thought should have been put into what type of school you are interested in spending the next four years of your life. Big or small? City or rural? And how about the major? Will it be liberal arts, etc. Hopefully your schedule has allowed for a few campus visits to help answer that question. But if not, it’s not too late to start doing so now. Using Naviance, an online system that can be accessed from the Guidance tab on the DHS Web site, is a great way to move this decision process along and narrow done the list of possible colleges for you from the huge number of schools out there.
The “school lookup” feature is helpful as it allows you to specify certain criteria you are looking for, such as size, major, sports and location, and gives you a list of potential colleges that fit those specifications. Don’t forget to communicate with the teachers who will be writing your recommendations and be ready to come to them with the stamped, self-addressed, envelopes when the time comes for them to be sent out. Remember it is your responsibility – not your parents- to ask your teachers if they will write a recommendation.
Once you have a somewhat decent idea of the type of school you want and some possibilities have fun exploring the schools. Visit the university’s Web site to find out about the majors they offer; what sports teams they have and even take a virtual tour or browse the bookstore. Based on what you find out from the site or from talking with a guidance counselor you might want to make time to visit. Depending on how much time you are able to spend at the school, take a campus tour, sit in on an interesting class, have an interview or even spend the night in the dorm with a current student. Find out what helps you get a sense of the school and what it would be like there and repeat that process for however many schools you think you are interested -the more the better!
As your list starts to narrow down, keep an eye out for the application deadlines, as they approach quicker than you think. I suggest making some sort of list, perhaps on a calendar, with the deadlines for each college marked. This way you are able to see which universities you need to focus on first to get out your application, supplements and essays written and the envelopes given to your teachers for the teacher recommendations to be taken care of. I suggest having a rough draft or workable version of your college essay so that you are able to focus your time on the multiple supplement essays most schools require.
Mid Fall-Early Winter:
Now is the time to crack down on your applications. If Early Decision is the route for you, go for it! Just make sure everything is taken care of because that deadline will quickly approach. The typical November 15th deadline (though each school may be different) comes fast. Regardless of the deadlines, there is a lot of writing that needs to be done to complete your apps in time. Answer the supplemental questions the best you can and leave yourself time to go back for multiple revisions, perhaps with help from mom or dad, until you are satisfied. Make sure the supplemental portions for each school are fulfilled and once they are and everything on your application has been checked and double checked take a deep breath and hit submit, again repeating the process for the number of schools you chose to apply.
Spring:
By now your apps should be done and submitted and it’s time to sit, wait and start checking the mailbox around mid-March. While it is typically true that the bigger the envelope you receive from the college around this time the better the news, good news does come in small packages. After patiently waiting and gathering your acceptance letters you will hopefully find yourself with a decently sized list of your potential schools for the next four years. When you start hearing back from your schools, make sure you share this news with the teachers who so kindly wrote your recommendations, as I’m sure they will like to be kept in the loop with the news you hear back. With this new list you again need to narrow it down through further research and even a final visit to campus to help you make the final decision. This time the visits are more enjoyable, as you are now an accepted and prospective student versus the nervous student maybe wanting to go to the school you were in the fall. It is easier to picture yourself as a coed at the college seeing as it may now be a reality rather than just a dream. So enjoy these visits and spend the time thinking carefully which school you should go to. Your final deadline will again be approaching faster than you think, so by the time April 30th rolls around and your deposit is due the next day it would be nice to be sticking the money in the mail with the confidence and excitement that the choice you made is the right one for you.
DHS Class of 2009 graduate Lizzie Kirst is a freshmen at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York
