I never thought that it would happen, but it’s almost time to say goodbye to 2010, and hello to 2011—and with a nice vacation between the two. Of course, for a lot of students out there (including me!), the work isn’t over yet. But the end is in sight—just think of how nice it’ll be once all is said and done, and we can resume our lives as normally stressed high school students, instead of totally distressed high school students scrambling to get applications done. (Though hopefully you’ve been scheduling well and avoiding the second case.) (more…)

You’ve filled out forms, taken tests, sent grades, and written essays. Your application is pretty much complete—or, at least, you know exactly how you’re going to complete it. So soon enough, it’ll be time to just hit submit and keep your fingers crossed for four more months. Right? Well, there’s one more hurdle, one more thing to do. Even though it’s oftentimes marked as optional, a lot of colleges “strongly recommend” you do it. What am I talking about? (more…)

Senior year is starting to feel a little less stressful, but earlier this month was a killer. I had a huge history paper due and I received a list of scholarship opportunities, which my mom insisted should be at the top of my to-do list. It seemed as soon as I finished something on my checklist, a couple more obligations came up. I am in the middle of finishing a few more scholarship applications that will hopefully lead to a little extra cash for college. There are plenty of scholarship opportunities; some are even humorous, like the scholarship for being left handed! I’ve found that so much is out there; you just have to have the drive to find it and go for it. (more…)

What types of things do you consider when deciding where you want to go to college? Are you looking to go to the number one party school, or does the college have to be a certain proximity from home, the beach, or your favorite fast food restaurant? You can look at brochures all you want, but nothing compares to taking your first step on the campus with open eyes. Would you buy a house based only on a picture and some typewritten description? It’s a good idea to visit the colleges to which you apply because visiting gives a better feel of the school and helps you decide if you can picture yourself there. (more…)

I’m in that odd period of time, between the early college deadline and the regular college deadline, where I’m counting down the days until I hear whether I’m accepted early or not. I know that I should be working on regular decision materials just in case I’m not accepted early, so that I won’t have to scramble to finish in December. But procrastination lives on; after having spent pretty much the past two months on early applications, I’m not too eager to get back to them so soon. (more…)

I’d like to share an experience from a few days ago. I was staring at the “SUBMIT” button on the computer. Months of work had led up to this moment. I hovered over the button for a moment, started to click, and then moved away. I looked over the entire form one more time, making sure everything was spelled correctly, and that I’d selected the all the right options, checked all the right boxes, and so on. I read my essays one more time, making sure the all the grammar was right. I took out a comma, wavered for a moment, and then put it back. And then, I was right back to that big, inviting “SUBMIT” button. I took a deep breath and clicked it. (more…)

I never imagined myself in my senior year applying to colleges; it always seemed like that time would be centuries away. Neither of my parents went to any big colleges, so I never had the drive to follow in their footsteps. All I knew is that one day I would go to college somewhere to continue my education. (more…)

As a senior, testing is one of the biggest requirements. In fact, by now we’ve all been taking standardized tests our entire school career. Testing is important for many different reasons—for scholarship opportunities, college placement, and most college admissions. (more…)

I’ll get the bad news out of the way first … most early action college deadlines are in a little over two weeks, probably on November 1. And most other applications will be due in about two and a half months, at the end of the year. Approaching fast? You bet. (more…)

I thought junior year was stressful! Everyone talks about how amazing senior year is, but who knew it would be this overwhelming? Many of us get involved in extracurricular activities and take tough classes to increase our chances of getting admitted to college. Since my sophomore year, my main focus has always been to bring up my GPA from my disappointing freshman year grades. Still, I’m just an average student. So I decided to become more involved in extracurricular activities, hoping that involvement might give my application a little more oomph. (more…)