I hope you seniors are all having a good school year so far. This is the 2nd installment of my series “How to Beat the College Admissions Process”. This article will be covering what you should be doing from October to December. It may seem like a lot, but I promise you that having a schedule will keep you more organized and less stressed out.
October
Keep and Finish Drafting Common App/Personal Statement
- Have someone you really trust and know you really well read it.
- My number tip for the Common App Essay/Personal Statement is to make it sound like you. This means that if someone else were to read your essay they would think it’s your writing.
Get Started on those Supplemental Essays
Some schools require extra essays alongside the personal statement. These extra essays are where you can show you’re passionate about the school, and tell the admissions committee other things about you not included in your personal statement. Down below are common supplemental essay topics and my tips.
- Why are you applying to this school?-Do lots of research on the school and find very niche facts to talk about(clubs, classes, school resources)
- Why this major?-Add an anecdote that shows what inspired you or called you to this major. Talk about what classes you may want to take at that school for that major.
- How have you impacted your community?- Your community can be your school, team, neighborhood(anything that resembles a group of people). Talk about what you have changed, the people you have mentored, and/or the legacies you are leaving.
Some schools have early action/early decision deadlines in October or on the 1st of November
- If you’re applying to schools like this, they should be on the top of your priority list.
- Examples of schools with these deadlines: Georgia Institute of Technology, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Georgia, NYU, Vanderbilt, All the Ivies
Early Decision vs. Early Action
- Early action is not binding and it’s great if you’re applying to a really competitive school and you want to know early so that you can strengthen your other applications in case you don’t get in or are deferred.
- Early decision is binding which means you have to go if you get in. It’s good if you are really passionate about a school, and you want to avoid the college admissions process. The only issue is that you don’t know if you will get good financial aid.
November
- This is the month to finish your Common App Essay/Personal Statement.
- Keep working on your supplemental essays.
- Submit some applications early.
- Some schools require that you submit early to get the big merit scholarships like TCU and USC.
- Only submit early you are ready. If you’re not ready, that’s totally okay. You still have December.
December
- The goal is to get all applications submitted before Christmas.
- Give yourself a little early Christmas present.
- If you can’t, that’s okay.
- In December, you should be transitioning from thinking about college applications to thinking about scholarships.
- Here are some December Scholarships
Other Resources
Thank you all for reading this week’s article. I hope it gave you seniors some tips and advice. The next installment of this series will be posted on December 29th. Make sure to subscribe to be notified of new posts. Stay sharp 😉