Lessons from the Trenches: college application tips

It's November. Seniors have submitted their early action or early decision applications. Some even have started getting their acceptances. Now comes the really fun part -- figuring out where they've gotten in, which school might be the best fit; what their freshman year of college will look like.

As they -- and I -- begin that work, we're also looking back at the lessons of this application season. I had a good crop of hard-working, motivated, brilliant seniors -- what I call "late bloomers"!

Working through their college admissions journey on a condensed timeline underlines some key insights about the process as whole.

Here are three key lessons about planning for the college admissions seasons that I've drawn from working with this year's crop of late-bloomer seniors:

1. Junior year isn't the only year that matters. Senior year matters too, as do the decisions you made junior year about senior year. One of my students, applying to engineering, chose AP Stats for his senior year math course. Totally fine for a history major -- but as someone applying for engineering -- their chances would have been stronger with an AP Calc. They've already gotten some great acceptances -- so they're not in trouble -- but they would have had more choices if they'd started work with me in their junior year -- or earlier!

2. Supplemental essays, activity lists -- it's so much to keep track of! It's doable, if you do it senior year. It can still turn out great. But it would be so much easier if you just kept track of it from junior year or earlier. You can do this in a template that matches the common app. Additionally, by doing some self-reflection through the template or by talking with a trusted professional, you can collect nuggets and building blocks that can go into your supplemental essays.

   
   

3. Many people don't realize that the admissions cycle is sometimes not the end of the writing and the competing. Fully half of my students' schools have competitive merit scholarships with separate applications that you can apply to once the applications for admissions are in. These can include essays, interviews, or a combination, and are sometimes open to only a selected part of the applicant pool. So if you've got a high achieving student, you might still be working on applications from November through January! It's a lot of work, but with potential rewards such as full tuition, and perks such as money for summer research, completing these applications can be a worthwhile investment!

These are just some of the reasons why it's worthwhile to work with a college admissions consultant -- and the earlier, the better! I'll have more college application tips and insights that I can customize to your child!

Balanced Path would be happy to meet with you to discuss what we can do for your high school kiddo. Click here to schedule a free appointment to discuss our services, and click here to download the activity tracker