Take a deep breath….let it out slowly.
Again.
Again.
It’s high summer, and you have plenty of work to do to make
senior year and your college future come together. Might as well start with
some simple relaxation exercises for when those many deadlines begin kicking in.
1.
Now that you are refreshed, think about your
goals and plans for the future. What are your talents? What areas stoke your
curiosity? Ask teachers, counselors and family members who know you well about
what they think about your strengths. Make a list to which you can refer; this
can help when refining your application choices.
2.
How do you want to use your talents toward a
meaningful life and career? By adding activities and internships in areas of
interest you can sample some possibilities while expanding your college resume
and LinkedIn profile.
3.
Hopefully, you brainstormed your college app
essays at the end of junior English class. Please don’t think that it is “good
Enough.” Instead, remember that essay can very well be the tiebreaker among
tens of thousands of other applicant essays. Draft/redraft, recruit
parents/teachers/editors to read and provide feedback until you are absolutely
certain your essay stands out and will so impress your college essay reader
s/he becomes your advocate for admission.
4.
Remember all the online research and campus
visits. They probably have blended in together. Review all your notes and get serious
about refining your final list of colleges. Your list of “musts” and “would
likes” should help lock down what draws you to each college. Talk to parents, siblings
and other relatives about why your choices are solid and be sure to mention a
few of the “passes” in case someone wants to make a case for them. Write down
all the finalists and find the common threads and significant differences.
Ranking them in order is a good way to expose the greatest draw for you. You will
need this understanding to support content shared in essays and should tie in
to what is shared in interviews.
5.
Consider yourself as a brand. What separates you
from your peers? A valuable tool for college aspirants is ZeeMee, which touts
its ability to frame a student’s “story over scores.” The app allows you to create,
update, and finalize your personal profile “brand.” Then you can connect your
personal ZeeMee link to high school guidance counselors, teachers who are
writing recommendation letters, and prospective colleges.
6.
Next up, make sure you create application
accounts for Common App, Coalition App, or individual school apps--depending on
your specific plan for submissions. You should not let this slide far into August.
Understand the requirements, gather and organize supporting documentation, and develop
a firm timeline to complete all necessary tasks. It is crucial to develop a
carefully crafted message that you can apply to each app, essay, and interview
so each college recognizes you as a valuable addition to its community.
7.
Hopefully you have a planner to schedule tasks efficiently:
--Update resume as colleges may
allow upload to an application.
--Take time to evaluate extracurriculars
and rank them by importance.
--Calculate hours per week and
year. Extracurricular hours go on Common and other apps.
--Select and send scores to app
colleges.
--Request recommendation letters.
If already under way, circle-back with those teachers to make sure all is on
time.
--If retesting in the fall,
register for test dates. Be sure to include this future test date on applications, where applicable.
--If planning additional campus
visits, schedule them ASAP. Fall dates fill up FAST as it’s a popular time for both
high school juniors and seniors.
Got all that? Time for those deep breathing exercises discussed at the beginning of the blog. You’ve got this!
--MIKE RYAN
