Tips for college admission
Joseph Ferguson ’16
The college admissions process can be a highly stressful experience, especially for a student at Strake Jesuit. The workload plus athletics and other extracurricular can make it hard to finish college applications on time.
I’ve been searching for tips and advice to help the college admissions process go as smoothly as possible.
First, know what you want from a college and have a plan for after college. Then attend college fairs and visits to our campus by college admissions officers. Get to know what different colleges are offering. Get a lists of the colleges that best fit you and discuss them with your parents. Add and subtract some schools because of cost or distance or whatever other reason.
College is most often expensive. Taking on college tuition is a difficult task for a family. Before applying to college, have an idea of what you want to do with your life. Go into college with a purpose, not just because higher education is the social norm. For example, a person I know went to a private institution and ended up becoming a middle school teacher. Could he have prepared for that career at a less expensive college? One must take into account the cost of college relative to their projected salary after. Otherwise, one’s paycheck goes straight to paying off student debt with no room to build wealth.
Start looking at scholarships now no matter what grade you’re in. There are college scholarships open to a variety of ages, and it is never too early to get scholarship money to put toward college. Under Student Life and College Counseling is a tab labeled Scholarships. Browse through that page to start looking at different opportunities. There are other ways, such as making chegg, fastweb, and mycollegeoptions accounts. These serve the same purpose, to help you find a scholarship that fits you.
A big tip that I was taught was enforced by my mom, and that was to get my college applications done as soon as possible. Applying Early Action is a good way to get a college’s attention, get your parents off your back, get your acceptance letters back faster, get it all out the way, and put your focus back toward school.
When applying, you should get a second pair of eyes to review your paperwork to make sure everything is inputted correctly. Get an English teacher or Mrs. Grimes to go over your college essay. You want it to be clean, crisp, and college-ready.
Lastly, see your college counselor frequently to get advice and to get feedback on how your process is going. Take control of your future. Acquire knowledge about your colleges and about ways to improve your odds of getting into them.
MAGIS 