chris
Hey everyone! I hope you’ve had a good summer and that your year is starting out smoothly. Since the year has just begun, this is a good time to plan out how you’re gonna prepare yourself for college. The process isn’t hard, but it does have a couple steps, and you want to make sure you’re giving yourself enough time to do everything (hint hint)!
Here are the things that college admissions people want to see you doing:
Challenge yourself: Take tougher classes, like honors and AP classes. It’s proven that people who take harder classes, even if they don’t make perfect grades, do better in college.
Do extracurricular activities: You should totally be doing stuff after school. Whether you join a club, sports team, do community service or work at a job, make sure to be doing something with your time after school.
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Study for the SAT/ACT: Oh man, you can have a really strong application, but if your scores aren’t that hot, you can make it a lot harder for yourself to get into the school of your choice.
Okay, so if you’re doing all the right things to get ready for college, you’re almost there! All you’ll have left is to actually apply. This is a list of things you’ll need for your college application. Make sure you can check each of these off your list before you think you’re done:
- High School Transcript: You should be able to get this from your counselor or the registrar.
- SAT/ACT Scores: You can get them from www.collegeboard.com for the SAT and www.actstudent.org for the ACT.
- Resume: You will want either a paper one, or do the online one on your application if there is one. Here are some tips for readying your resume.
- Essays: Not all schools require essays, but you better write them if they do! You’re gonna write essays in college too, so now’s a good time to practice. Most essays are about personal issues, like someone who was important to you, a time when you showed leadership or when you overcame a difficulty. Here are some tips on writing essays.
- Community Service/Volunteer Hours: Most schools don’t require these, but they can make a big difference for your application.
- Letters of recommendation: 2-3 is a good number. These are super important too!
- Application Fee/Fee Waiver: If you are eligible for free or reduced lunch, you can get a fee waiver to help you do your college applications for free. That’ll save you a lot of money.
If you’ve got all of those things, you’re set! Don’t forget about scholarships, though.
What are you doing to set yourself up for success?
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