With summer here, many rising seniors are going to start on the long journey known as the college admissions process. It’s not uncommon for teens to be under grueling amounts of stress during this time, what with constant mailings from various colleges and universities begging for you to come visit and attend them and then listing various reasons as to why they are the best.
The first thing that you have to do though is relax. Yes, it’s not an easy process, but it won’t be the death of you if you go through it properly. And on the other hands, you can’t control most of what results from it anyway; that lies in the hands of the institutions to which you apply. If you really want to get into your dream school though, you have to consider what the school looks at and how you compare.
One of the most common things colleges look is standardized test scores. Most colleges accept the SAT or the ACT and some accept both. It’s a wise idea to take these in the Spring of your junior year to ensure that your grades will be released on time for applications. They are both offered at different times in the fall, but scores typically take about three to four weeks to be released and then from release time, it typically takes another two or three for the scores to reach colleges. Standardized tests scores are a good way to see how you compare to colleges. With the SAT, most colleges still only consider the Critical Reading and the Mathematics portions. However, there are some colleges that will use the Writing portion of the SAT to check your essay’s validity.
Another thing that many colleges look at is how involved you're in extracurricular activities. Being involved doesn’t have to mean being the president of five clubs, the class president, star player on the baseball team, etc. It could simply mean being a member of a club, doing some volunteer work, being a member of a team. Sure, it’s nice to put on your resumé that you accomplished a large amount of things, but not being the team captain or the president won’t hurt you either. The least you can do is just join a club, try out for a team. Just by showing that you tried is better than having nothing.
Lastly, two of the big things that colleges look for, is the rigor of your classes and your grades. Colleges are looking for students who are ready to challenge themselves academically. Many students, however, become victims of “Senioritis” that they feel that they can slack off their senior year. They feel they can let their grades drop and take the easiest classes they can, since colleges are only going to be looking at how they’ve done for the past three years. However, colleges have been known to take back offers of admission if a student’s grades have fallen. You have to keep your grades up and try to take some challenging classes. That just may be the deciding factor of getting in and not getting in.
Mostly though, you just need to relax and take it easy. Don’t overload yourself with activities, don’t drown yourself in class down, don’t pressure yourself too hard. The college admissions process isn’t a stroll in the park but at the same time, it isn’t a death-sentence. Relax, enjoy the ride, and you’ll be fine.
