36 things I wish I had known a year ago
1. AP scores aren’t really that important as far as admissions go. (So don’t stress about them too much.)
2. DO NOT take the ACT/SAT for the first time in September. If you haven’t taken it in the spring of your junior year, take it over the summer. That way if you don’t do as well as you’d like, you’ll have time to retake it without stressing over the fact that you only have one shot. Plus, you don’t want to be worrying about tests when you should be writing essays:)
3. You don’t need a 36 or 2400. Lots of people think those scores mean you can get into any school you want, but they guarantee literally nothing except for automatic scholarships at state schools (which are great, but a 35 or 2390 will get you exactly the same thing).
4. But if you think you can get a perfect score, and you want to take the time to try, then go for it. Not gonna lie, the 36 feels pretty good (can’t speak for the 2400, but I’d imagine it’s similar). Don’t let anyone shame you for wanting to do your best, even if you don’t have to.
5. Look at the rubric for the writing sections before taking the test! A well-written essay can score pretty badly just because it doesn’t follow the rubric exactly (full disclosure: I made this mistake on both tests, and my scores show it).
6. If you need help with test prep, ask for it. Ask someone that you know did well, a counselor, a teacher, or anyone you know. (Ask me! I’d love to help y'all out.)
7. Take 2/3 SAT Subject tests if you’re planning to apply to any competitive schools. The numbers don’t need to be stellar, but some schools require or highly recommend them. Look at practice tests to decide if you’ll do well. (Speaking from experience, don’t take the physics test unless you’ve taken AP Physics 2 because it’s fucking hard and a one-year non-AP physics class will not cut it.)
8. Chill the fuck out. This is super stressful for almost everyone, and it’s going to be okay.
9. You don’t have to know what you want to major in yet. But do have a list of a few (or many) subjects that you find interesting. Most schools don’t really care if you’re undecided–they just want to see that you’re passionate about learning something.
10. In the same vein, it’s totally fine to put a major you’re not 100% sure you’ll end up pursuing. Most people change their majors anyway, and colleges know that.
11. Over the summer start compiling a list of schools you might want to apply to. Make this list as long as you want.
12. Take that list of schools and (yes, over the summer) start skimming their websites. You can eliminate a few here because some probably won’t have the program/major you want.
13. If you can, visit as many of these schools as you can (or just whatever schools are close to you, even if you don’t necessarily want to go to them). Going on as many of these tours as possible does get boring pretty quickly, but it helps you figure out what you want in a school.
14. It’s okay if you don’t immediately fall in love with a school while walking on campus. Deep down, you’re still freaking out about the whole application process, which is fine–once second semester senior year hits, you calm down and it’s so much easier to think about what the right school for you is.
15. Also over the summer, start getting organized. I recommend an Excel spreadsheet, with each school getting its own row. Potential columns include whether or not the school is on the common app, if it has supplements (be careful with this one–some will say they don’t have essays and will require you to do “short answer” questions which sometimes turn into small essays, so make sure to check all parts of the common app once it becomes available), deadlines, honors deadlines/application details, scholarship deadlines/application details (some schools require you to apply by November to be considered for merit awards even if the admission deadline isn’t until January or February), your login information (!!!!! you will end up with dozens of usernames and passwords), test scores they require, if you need a teacher rec (and how many), if interviews are offered, and when decisions are released. This information can get pretty overwhelming once you have more than three schools, so this helps you stay organized. If you listen to anything I say, DO THIS. I didn’t and it took me almost two months to get organized (since I was dealing with school at the same time) and I ended up very stressed from October-December because I hadn’t had time to really write rough drafts until a week before my deadlines. Don’t waste the time you have after prompts are released getting organized. Even creating an empty Excel sheet with all of your headings is better than nothing.
16. Make a resume before you start applications. (Ideally, do this over the summer.) It doesn’t have to look amazing; this is mostly for you to use later. Good headings include test scores, honors/awards, activities/clubs, volunteer work, work experiences, and miscellaneous (like any presentations/seminars/conferences you’ve gone to). List everything, no matter how insignificant you think it may be, because you can make a lot of this stuff sound way more impressive than it actually was without even lying at all. Then, briefly describe each activity (ex. Library volunteer-responsible for assisting patrons and shelving and organizing library materials) because most applications will make you write descriptions, so you might as well do them all now. You’ll thank yourself later.
17. You don’t have to write any essays over the summer. (Most of the prompts haven’t even been released yet, and you’d probably want to rewrite it before you submit it later in the fall anyway.) Don’t feel bad if people start sooner than you.
18. Once school starts, get transcripts sent and rec letters dealt with as soon as possible, so you don’t have to worry about them later.
19. Two teacher recs + a counselor rec will probably be enough. For scholarships later in the year that require recs, just ask your teacher to submit the one they already wrote.
20. When you finally do have essay prompts, put each one in its own word doc and title it by school (ex. oklahoma_scholarship, emory). You can also put the deadline after the school name (emory_nov15) to help you prioritize. Put these word docs in a folder labeled College App Essays or something like that. These docs are where you’ll brainstorm and ultimately write your essays.
21. Use google drive. Do it. I left my flash drive at school more than once and had to rewrite completed essays; it was not fun. Don’t be like me. Access your files from anywhere with google drive. Google drive.
22. Write what you’re passionate about. Admissions officers can tell if you’re sincere and it’s really obvious if you try to pander and guess what they want you to say. If they don’t like your essay, fuck them, you don’t need them anyway. They can sit in their stuffy little room shitting on teenagers’ essays while you go out and live your life because you’re a goddamn superstar and you didn’t sell your soul to get into that snobby elitist place.
23. Don’t just give up after five minutes if you can’t think of an essay topic. These are supposed to be fairly reflective, so sometimes the most productive thing you can do is sit and think for twenty minutes.
24. Print off your essays at least once and edit them. If you can, have other people edit yours (and edit your friends’ essays–it helps them out and it helps you learn what to do/what not to do in your own essays). Don’t be shy about asking people to help you; by December it was as common for me as asking whether there was math homework or not.
25. While I’d definitely recommend editing your essays, sometimes you end up writing them on the day of the deadline and submitting them five minutes before they’re due. It’s fine. We all did it. (If anyone says they didn’t, they’re either lying or superhuman.)
26. After a certain point there’s nothing you can do about your previous grades, test scores, and activities. So stop worrying about them and write your essays.
27. Don’t be that person who applies to only Ivy League schools and no safeties. Just don’t. Unless you’re a complete genius and Harvard has already personally sent the president to your house to beg you to apply, have at least one safety–one that you’d be happy at if you end up attending.
28. Right now you might think you need to go to a prestigious school in order to feel adequate, and you’ll probably feel like this for a while, but sometimes it’s better to take the big scholarship and be the star student at a state school. Nobody will think any less of you.
29. To reiterate, NOBODY WILL THINK ANY LESS OF YOU IF YOU GO TO A STATE SCHOOL OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE.
31. If you know you don’t want to go to X school, don’t apply. First, if they require essays, you won’t have to do them, and second, you’ll save about $100. But only do this if you know that you’d be absolutely miserable there and have some concrete reasons why.
32. Once you’ve applied, don’t write off any schools (again, unless you have specific reasons why you don’t want to go there). I had almost forgotten about the college I’m probably going to attend in the fall after applying because I figured I wouldn’t get into their top program (I did, and I’m in love now).
33. It’s okay if you don’t have a top choice or dream school. (This phenomenon often ends in heartbreak, so you’re escaping that whole side of the issue.)
34. On the other hand, it’s totally okay to have a dream school. Just don’t get too obsessed and keep and open mind:)
35. Yeah, technically you’re competing with all of your peers, but you can’t do anything about how awesome they are. Be happy for them, recognize that same awesomeness in yourself, and show that to the admissions officers.
36. I’ll leave you with some advice my mom gave me right before I went into an interview.
titsay
turnnoffyourmind
origamiaround
yousharknotpass
kaledo-art
germansingergirl
