myUsearch blog

Because Top 10 lists may be the most popular thing this side of Tiger Woods, I think it’s appropriate that I use one to explain what I’ve learned over the past year from the stressful college admissions process.

1. Organization: I know that many of you will roll your eyes at this one and quickly scroll down to #9. I know I would have a year ago. But a few simple things might save you a lot of time over the next year. Keep all of your paperwork in one place. I can’t stress this enough. Preferably keep them categorized by school, or by type. For example, you might want to keep all of your teacher recommendation forms together, so you can give it to them in one easy package. It would also be wise to keep all of your passwords (and you will probably have quite a few) and usernames together for each of your college websites. There is nothing worse than not being able to check your decision as everyone is finding out whether they are in or not! Being organized not only makes life easier for you, it also helps you make sure you’re not forgetting anything!
2. College Visits Are Important: Before I visited Yale in the summer before my senior year of high school, I wasn’t even going to apply. I was dead set on applying to MIT early. However, when I visited, I saw how wrong my preconceptions were. I ended up applying to Yale, but not MIT. This just goes to show that no matter how many pamphlets about schools you read, you can never really get a feel for the school until you go there and see for yourself what it’s like and what the students are like. If it is at all possible, I would strongly encourage a visit!
3. Don’t Participate in Resume Builders: As I was listing things on the Common Application, picking and choosing what activities I would be putting on my list of 7 that it gives you room for, I realized that the 7 I chose were ones that I actually participated in solely because I enjoyed them. Ones that I only half-heartedly attended like Spanish Honors Society, didn’t even make the additional info section. Looking back, the activities I enjoyed were the ones I put the most effort into, and therefore the ones I was most successful in and got the most out of. My point here is to do what you like to do, and everything else will fall into place.
4. Help Those Who Help You: I had the great fortune to have some of the finest counselors I could have asked for who made sure I made every deadline. Some may not be so fortunate. Make sure to know when everything is due and get it done early. You cannot expect teachers to write recommendations for you given only a week’s notice. Remember, everyone that is helping you is doing it out of the goodness of their heart. They don’t see one extra penny from the school when they decide to spend an extra hour writing you a recommendation, or proofreading your essay. So give them plenty of time and a handwritten thank you card after you are done applying.
5. Have a Balanced List: I have some friends that ended up not getting into their top “reach” schools and realizing too late that they did not want to go to any of their safety schools. Though nobody likes to think about it, this could be you next year. Be just as careful in selecting your safeties as you are in selecting your top choice colleges. This is also the case for financial safeties, make sure you apply to schools you know you can get merit money from (if money is an issue), just in case you don’t get the scholarships you expect from your top choice schools.
6. Essays Are Important: I can’t stress this enough, you want to have good essays because they (perhaps more than anything else) give the admissions committee a little window into who you are. Make sure you write essays that are true to yourself, something that if you gave it to one of your friends, they would know exactly who wrote it. Be mature, but don’t be afraid to be too funny or too serious, just be you!
7. Help Is Everywhere: If you look, there are so many resources to help you on the internet or even just around your school. Resources like myUsearch or books like “A for Admissions” are all over the place if you pay a little bit of attention. Another resource that I found especially valuable in my college application process was older students. They knew a lot of things that you just can’t find in books and they could also tell you things about their school that you just can’t find in pamphlets. No matter how well constructed resources are, they cannot compare with the detail of someone who has been through what you are going through. Seek out the help of those older than you, chances are they were helped too and they will be more than happy to pass that along.
8. Don’t Be Afraid to Try: I know a lot of people that didn’t apply to colleges simply because they did not think they could get in. The only way to make sure you fail is to not try at all. Other than the 70 dollar application fee (which you can get waived if it is a big deal), you really have very little to lose, especially given the widespread use of the Common Application. If you want to go to a big name college, but don’t know if you have what it takes, give it a shot you never know. You might surprise yourself with what you can achieve if you only have a little belief.
9. Be Friendly: I know a lot of people that are really competitive about college admissions and treat it like a “me against the world” kind of competition, hounding you for your class rank and SAT scores while jealously guarding their own. You don’t have to be that guy/girl. Remember, there are thousands of colleges out there and chances are, you will have a great experience no matter where you end up going. After all, colleges don’t accept you unless they feel you are a good fit for them. So don’t lose friendships over something like competition over college admissions (especially considering you are not directly competing against you classmates in the first place). In the long run, you will find that friends are far more valuable than anything that can be gained in admissions. 
10. Be Yourself: Before you even think about starting your application. ask yourself: “Who am I?”. The answer may very well surprise you. No matter how ordinary the answer seems to you, everybody is unique, and I mean that in a good way. You don’t have to be what you perceive to be “extraordinary”. Being just you is enough.

I hope these tips were helpful. Good luck and happy college hunting!

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