For many juniors transitioning into their last year of high school, the most daunting question is, “What comes next?” Even though that is an exasperating question to hear from adults, the terrifying reality of a senior’s first semester is that those couple of months will decide the direction of the next chunk of their life. Scrambled behind all of the essays, forms, and signatures are the choices that each student must make. Additionally, adjusting from all of the academic rigor of eleventh grade to self-reflection and personal writing can be difficult. As a senior who has been through it all, here are some tips to get a head start.
The College Process, Broken Down
Students looking to pursue further education after high school have a tremendous amount of decisions to make. However, it can help to start with self reflection, pondering questions like: What are my strengths and weaknesses? Where do I want to end up? In what environment do I grow the best? More straightforward questions like the location and geography of a school and its full cost to attend are important too. Students can establish a basic list of colleges from searching online, asking friends and family, and meeting with the Haldane High School guidance counselor, Amanda Cotchen. Then, they should organize these thoughts into a spreadsheet, including a list of colleges ranked as “safety,” “target,” or “reach,” depending on their chance of acceptance. Furthermore, students should look at deadlines and plan ahead. Weigh the advantages of Early Decision versus Early Action versus Regular Decision/Rolling Admissions. According to US News & World Report, many schools score interest based on how early the student applies. However, Early Decision is binding and could drag a student into paying an overly costly tuition. Regardless of this choice, try to get easy requirements out of the way and see if an earlier application deadline is best.
The college process is drawn out, and there might be a lot of waiting. In the meantime, assemble or try to build a resume, hone in on strengths, complete the FAFSA and/or CSS, study for the SAT or ACT—yes, unfortunately it still matters—but do not give up on academics (until the third quarter of senior year, at least!).
Senior Reflections
Matthew Silhavy on School Involvement
“The current policy is to basically do it [the application process] all by yourself, with occasional meetings with Mrs. Cotchen. I found it to be very stressful and I had a lot of questions about filling out the Common App. If you do not take the SAT during the school day [in October] there is a brief essay workshop. However, this was not enough time to support individuals in the college process. Even though everything was manageable, it was difficult to know what to do and to deal with deadlines.”
Marc Firpo on Application Deadlines and Admission Results
“I applied Restrictive Early Action to Harvard in December because it was a school I wanted to attend but wasn’t confident I could get in. However, this application type meant I could only apply EA [Early Action] to public universities. Those ended up being two SUNYs, which acted as my safety schools. I got into both, which lifted a lot of pressure, especially after getting deferred from Harvard. Deferral means a hold in your application status until the school sees all of its applicants before April… In other words, a lot of waiting. In the meantime, I worked on other Regular Decision applications. On March 27th, I heard back from Harvard, from which I was rejected, but got into Brown through Regular Decision. I would suggest for next year’s seniors to not get caught up by a deferral. Instead, apply to a lot of schools to minimize risks.”
Kira Drury on Procrastination
“I started my college search the summer before junior year. I really wanted to get ahead of everything to make sure I wouldn’t fall behind. But, I still did! Even though I knew what I had to do, actually getting it done was surprisingly difficult. I struggled to ask teachers for recommendations because I was nervous, and I waited until the last minute to fill out certain sections of the Common App. I ended up submitting to eleven schools in November the day they were due. Even though I got into thirteen of the fourteen I applied to, the process was dreadful!”
