THE COLLEGE PROCESS--A MASTERPOST
basically, I was super clueless about everything college related last summer and I was really overwhelmed and scared bc I knew nothing about it so here is my attempt to simplify some things and prevent you guys from suffering from confusion like I did
I’d like to think I’m pretty knowledgeable about the college process seeing as my twin sister and I are the very first people in our entire family to go to college so this whole thing was really new and foreign and scary and stressful as fuck and I did it all on my own and I worked 25-30 hours a week at my job and managed to keep a relatively high GPA and basically I’m just going to list all the things I wish I had known a year ago that would have saved me a lot of stress and anxiety
Please remember that this is just a guide, not a to do list, alot of these things you can do at different times and in different orders, this is just the way I did it and it worked successfully (also i’m aware I dont have any ACT information on this since I didn’t take it but I’m working on adding it soon!!!)
I’m going to start off with a timeline of your senior year and then go into more detail about certain aspects below the timeline
*****if you have any questions let me know, I’m happy to help*****
Pick two teachers that you want to write your letter of recommendation and ask them some time at the end of your junior year if they’d write it for you, I’m only saying to ask this early because I know a lot of teachers have a limit on the amount of recommendations they’ll write
SUMMER BEFORE SENIOR YEAR
Make collegeboard and commonapp accounts
Research some colleges!! Try to pick at least 4 or 5 colleges that you want to apply to before school starts (you can always add more later)
Pick an essay topic, if possible try and write a rough draft (not necessary though)((I didn’t))
Make a list of your extracurriculars (I cannot stress how important this is tbh like I had written a resume my junior year so I had everything listed already and it was an absolute LIVESAVER)
Fill out the general portion of the common app
Get your essay completely drafted and harass the shit out of your English teacher for advice on it
Some of the schools you’ll apply to will require supplemental essays, try and find out what those are and think about how you want to answer them
If you have an early decision/early action deadline that is November 1st/15th try and submit your application a few days before it’s due because commonapp can be really fussy (especially around deadlines) and it’s better safe than sorry
If you’ve applied early decision congrats!! Maybe begin a few more applications in case things don’t work out
If you wanted to apply to more schools than your original list now is the time to research them and decide because many of them have January deadlines
Many schools have a January 1st deadline so this is the final push!!
Finish college essay if you haven’t already
Finish supplements if you have any
Try to send as many completed applications as you can before Christmas it feels really good
As I said before many schools have a January 1st deadline, but not all do, some go as late as February or March or maybe even have rolling admission so this is the time to send any more applications
FILL OUT THE FAFSA ASAP, it becomes available January 1st and it’s not nearly as scary as you think it will be (different colleges will have different financial aid due dates so try and get it done quickly)
Fill out the CSS profile if necessary
If a school requires the CSS profile and your parents are divorced you’ll need the parent that isn’t the primary person you live with to fill out the NCP profile (which is an extension of the CSS profile)
Send any more applications
Fill out FAFSA and CSS if you haven’t already
By now you’ve probably/maybe already received some admissions decisions and financial aid packages
Keep financial aid packages in a folder or binder in your room for reference
You’ll be receiving the last responses and financial aid packages from colleges this month
Congrats you survived the application process!!!!!
Maybe visit some of the colleges you got accepted to this month if you’re having a hard time picking one
Now is the hard part you have to pick a college by the end of the month because almost all schools have a May 1sttuition/housing deposit deadline
Now is the time to relax you did it and are committed to a school hooray!!!
Good luck on AP tests and finals
GRADUATION!!! That is if you haven’t had it already
Your college will probably require paperwork, like health forms that you’ll have to mail to your school
Orientation!!!! (I can’t give much advice on that one seeing as mine is August 7th and I haven’t attended it yet)
LOANS(not as scary as it sounds I promise)
Move-in—CONGRATS YOU DID IT!!!!!!!
My first suggestion for you is to make a collegeboard account
If you’ve already taken the SATs you already have a collegeboard account don’t make another one it just makes things complicated
You’ll use collegeboard to research colleges (this was my primary website for research but there are plenty of others as well such as collegeconfidential)
You’ll also use it to view/send SAT scores, subject test scores, AP test scores
Make a common app account (whenever it becomes available for this school year)
Common app is how most (not all) colleges will have you submit your application to them
There are 3 parts to the common app: the general questions, application specific to the school (including supplements) and your college essay
You’ll submit each part separately like you’ll submit 3 separate sections to each college
If your college uses the commonapp then there are 5 different essay topics available for you to write about and a 650 word maximum
If I were you I wouldn’t even think about those questions honestly just pick something that you’re passionate about and that you could write in a way that allows you to exemplify why you’re a good candidate for that school, and then write about that topic in a way so that it allows you to answer one of those questions.
REMEMBER: the point of the essay is for the school to get a feel for who you are and what you’re like, so make sure you kind of boost about yourself and how you’re hardworking/passionate/dedicated/etcetc and WHY you’re a good fit for the school
Try to really mean what you say
You could, but I really don’t suggest writing about another person, the point of the essay is to get a feel of what kind of person /you/ are
I wrote mine about concerts (i used the topic/question that was about where you feel most content) and I talked about being connected to all different kinds of people bc of the passion we all shared for the music being played (which my english teacher said that shows that I’ll be good in a big school environment and will be a good “team player”) and idr what but i talked about more things that showed like my dedication and i connected the musicians passion for music with my passion for science
Just try and make yourself look good, be cocky af
This really tripped me up when writing my essay because you’re always taught in school to not use “I” in proper essays, but you’re /probably/ going to write it in the first person
As for the timeline of writing your essay it would be great to have a rough draft before you start your senior year, but it’s not necessary (I didn’t) BUT I would suggest at least starting school with what you’d like to write about
Harass the shit out of your english teacher for advice and their opinion on it and how you could improve it
Biggest piece of advice is list the things you really would like to have a school to have (examples: campus size, locations, majors, dorm types, transportation) and then pick schools based on these things (collegeboard is super helpful for that)
I for example wanted a big school, in or very close to NYC, Boston, Philly (basically any big city) with biomedical engineering as an available major. The pickier you are the less options you have (I didn’t have very many bc of my pickiness)
Once you find a school that fits what you would like RESEARCH IT. GO TO THEIR WEBSITE, GOOGLE STUDENT REVIEWS, FIGURE OUT IF YOU COULD SEE YOURSELF BEING THERE
BE REALISTIC. I can’t stress this one enough, I can’t even begin to tell you how many friends I have that applied to schools that were way out of their reach or that they were way above the school average (note though that being way above the average can be really helpful when it comes to scholarships so if money is an issue take that into consideration)
I applied to 12 schools and would never have attended at least 9 of them guys don’t do that it’s so stupid and time/money consuming, actually like the schools you applied to
Honestly as long as your being realistic with the schools you’re applying to you don’t need to apply to more than like 8 colleges
Try to start your senior year with at least 4 or 5 schools you’re interested in, you can always add more later
MAKE A SPREADSHEET IN EXCEL OR GOOGLE DOCS (I would suggest google docs that way you can access it at any computer and not just at home) put the name of the school, the location, different aspects of the application and if you have submitted that part yet, the website and your username and password (when you apply to most colleges they’ll have an online portal that you can login to check the progress of your application, admission decision, financial aid, etc etc and a lot of times they’ll assign you a username and password and it’s super easy to forget all of them)
A lot of people made fun of me for my spreadsheet but you know what, after everything was said and done I found out my class valedictorian had one too sO IT IS A VERY SMART IDEA OKAY IF YOU ONLY LISTEN TO ONE THING I SAY IN THIS POST IT SHOULD BE THIS
Here’s what mine looked like okay there’s a lot of information but it was honestly so helpful
TYPES OF APPLICATION DEADLINES
Early Action: this is a nonbinding application type, basically it just gets you an admission decision more quickly if you can get all the parts of the application in as early as possible
Early Decision: this is a binding application type, only do this if you are absolutely 100% sure this is the college you want to go to
Regular Decision: the regular application deadline, typically January 1st (or later)
Rolling Admission: there isn’t a set application deadline, and you get an admission decision depending on when you submit your application—the sooner it’s submitted the sooner you get your admission decision
I don’t know if you want my advice on SATs, I took them three times (twice my junior year and once my senior year) and didn’t study for a single one of them
Just make sure you get a good nights sleep, as dumb and clichéd as that sounds, but it’s a 10 section test and after about the 5th section you’re gonna hate yourself
Seriously just wear baggy comfy clothes and go out for lunch with your friends after and complain about how awful it is
Also your first score will probably suck a lot
In my personal experience i went from a (I think) 1750 in may of my junior year to a 1980 (maybe 1990 i cant remember) in october of my senior year
APPLICATIONS ARE HELLA EXPENSIVE
There is literally so much money you have to pay just to APPLY to these schools like I am so thankful I was able to qualify for fee waivers and such
There’s a fee to send your application, it’s different for different schools and can be anywhere as little as $25 to as much as $75 and more
You also have to pay to send SAT scores (I believe collegeboard lets you send the first 4 for free, and every time you need to send more after those first 4 its like $12 dollars PER COLLEGE)
If you took AP Tests your junior year you probably didn’t send your scores to your college for free and they’ll charge you again to send those scores to the college you’re attending (however if you did have your scores sent to the college you’re attending there’s no cost to you but its unlikely that you accurately filled that out your junior year)
WHAT YOUR APPLICATION ACTUALLY WILL CONSIST OF (IF THROUGH COMMON APP)
SAT scores (sent through college board)
AP scores (if applicable)(sent through college board)
Transcript (will be sent a certain way depending on your high school)
Teacher/Guidance Counselor recommendation(will be sent a certain way depending on your high school)
College essay (sent through common app)
Common app (this is the same for every college)(sent through common app)
College questions/supplement (this is specific to each college)(sent through common app)
Paying for college was one of the most terrifying ideas for me and the financial aid process seemed really scary
Spoiler alert: it’s not and I’m dumb and my mom knows literally 0 about finances but we got everything done on time and correctly hooray
FAFSA is how you’ll get federal aid and every school requires you to fill this out
Sit down with your parents with their most recent tax return papers and a computer
Go to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ and click start a new FAFSA
Literally just fill it out, every question will direct you to the exact line number on the tax return to find the information
You can always go back and edit it at a later date
It takes /maybe/ 20-30 minutes tops to fill out FAFSA
Next is the CSS profile, this is how some schools determine the aid they college itself will give you. Not all schools require it though, click here to see if your colleges require it
Apparently the CSS profile is something your parents are supposed to fill out (I was told this in a financial aid meeting run by my high school in the beginning of my senior year) but I filled it our myself with my moms help with some things
I’m not gonna lie, the CSS is really fucking annoying and long and tedious and you’re probably gonna wanna cry or drink or just whine a lot, but it’s not difficult
Like when you filled out the FAFSA, sit down with your parents and all their tax info again and fill it out. Also like the FAFSA, each question will direct you to where in your parents taxes to find the answer
If your parents are divorced, your non-custodial parent will have to fill out the NCP profile (which is just an extension of the CSS profile)
If there isn’t a way to contact that parent, call your colleges’ financial aid office and see if they can waive it, you’ll probably have to fill out some paperwork for that
Colleges are really strict about having that NCP profile done though, my parents are divorced and my father wanted no part in my college education so when i called Bostony University’s financial aid department to try and get them to waive its requirement they basically told me that I had to get him to fill it out
Many colleges will only waive it if there’s been abuse or if you have no contact with the parent and have no idea where they are
If you didn’t get accepted to your number one choice I am so sorry, I feel your pain honestly I applied to 12 schools and got accepted to 11 and denied from 1 and it was my number one choice and had been my number one since I was a freshman
Buy yourself something nice
Remember that you are still hella rad and this is not the end of the world and you’ll live and as dumb as it sounds you end up exactly where you’re supposed to be
This is another topic I’m not sure I’ll be too good for because once I got denied from my top choice I sent my deposit literally the next day to my second choice because it was the only other school I applied to that I actually liked and could see myself at, and also i didnt visit any colleges
Take financial aid into account bc 20 years from now you don’t sill wanna be paying off thousands and thousands in loans
Visit schools you got accepted to if you’re having a tough time deciding
Send your deposit before May 1st, don’t wait until the last minute it’s just stressful and unnecessary
LOANS/MORE FINANCIAL AID INFO
This was literally my biggest fear for the whole college process but again it’s not as scary as you would think
Sometime in February/March/April you’ll have received the financial aid package from your school. It will have Included grants, scholarships, and loans
Scholarships are what you’ve been awarded from the school based on merit, extracurriculars, etc this is aid that you do NOT have to pay back
Grants are a type of aid that are awarded based on financial aid and merit, this is aid that you do NOT have to pay back
On your financial aid package you will likely have two categories of loans: unsubsidized and subsidized and the difference between them is based on how the interest is done, these are government loans and are a type of aid that DOES have to be paid back
As a first year student you can get up to $5,500 in these type of federal loans combined
Remember the FAFSA you filled out? Well that should have spit out a number at you called your EFC(estimated family contribution)((basically it means how much money your family should be able to contribute to paying for your college based upon their finances) and based on that number your school will have given certain amounts in each category
IF ALL OF THOSE DON’T COVER THE REST OF THE COLLEGE EXPENSES YOU HAVE A FEW OPTIONS ON PAYING FOR THE REST OF THE COST(I’M ONLY REALLY FAMILIAR WITH ONE)
First suggestion is a Parent Plus loan, it’s a loan that your parents take out in their name to pay the rest of your estimated cost of attendance and there are a few different ways to apply for a Parent Plus loan depending on your school. For my college I filled out a piece of paper and faxed it to them and they’re setting up the loan. My sister on the other hand had to fill hers out online and it wasn’t through her college
Call your colleges financial aid office if you need help seriously don’t be afraid, I’ve called my colleges financial aid office at least 3 times this summer already and I have to call them again tomorrow
Another option if your parents don’t want to do the Parent Plus loan is to get a private loan through like sallie mae but I’m not really familiar with those
Take advantage of your lunch/free periods, you can honestly get everything done in those periods, I did minimal college stuff at home because I got most of it done in my frees
Call colleges’ financial aid and admission offices if you have questions it will save you heaps of stress
It all seems really confusing and scary but it’s really not that hard at all, I’m literally stupid and I managed to get everything done
Don’t obsess, which is easier said than done but try your best to not let it consume you
You will be fine I believe in you you’ve got this :)
