Are you feeling stressed and lost about the college application process? If so then read this article to learn some tips and advice. The College Application Process for everyone is stressful but an important time and I believe it’s made too stressful than it needs to be. There are so many steps of the process: finding schools you like, visiting the schools hopefully in person, having ideas of majors you’re interested in, the essay, the common app, and everything else. It’s okay though to go in undecided. You will figure out when you’re in college what the right major and or minor is for you. The most important thing to remember in the whole process is college is a good thing. It’s supposed to be something new and for you to do something new. Maybe that’s going to college across the country and living somewhere new and super far from your family and friends. Or maybe that’s just going to college near your home and living at home. Whatever it is, it’s supposed to expose you to new things and prepare you for the world and eventually hopefully living on your own and having a career or careers.
My tips for the college application process is to get started early, be yourself, put in your best effort, and use all your resources. It is so much better to at least get something done because it will just help you get ahead. I also suggest listening to advice from everyone but knowing you don’t have to follow all of the advice that you are given because it might not be right for you.
I interviewed Josh York, my dad who is a parent of a student going through the process now and a current college student. I got responses from him about how he learned about the college application process. He learned about it from the guidance at Ipswich High School hiring Kevin Fudge to come talk to parents about the college application process. It’s always good to pay attention and look at everything your students’ school and especially guidance department send as they are trying to help you out. And they set up a lot of things to help parents through this whole process. Some advice he gives to parents is “Start the process early, visit schools you’re most interested in, and listen to your child’s input and what they’re looking for.” It is always important to remember to listen to what your kid wants as it’s going to be their college experience not yours. “When visiting the schools, take a lot of notes.” This is a good thing to do to – at least write down one thing you liked or disliked about the school to remember them so you don’t forget. It’s also helpful to take photos to remember the school too because after seeing so many schools they will all blend together.
In my interview with Meredith York, my mom who is a parent of a student going through the process now and a current college student I asked her about how she has helped her students with the college application process. She has told me “As a parent we first talk with our high schooler to get an idea of what they are interested in post high school. Talk about different types and locations of colleges.” Which is really good as a first step to figure out if your student even wants to go to college as this is about them and should be their choice. And if they do want to go then make sure you listen to what they want and follow it to certain extents. Another thing she mentioned was how she wanted to take a step back and not control the situation and let her students work on it. But she made sure they knew that she was there to help. “We tried to let our high schoolers manage it themselves, but of course we’re here to help them brainstorm and manage it.”
In my interview with Dylan York my brother is a current college student who went through this whole process a couple years ago. I asked him, “What was the hardest part of the college application process?” He told me “The hardest part was probably figuring out what schools to apply to and how many.” This is really true because there are about 6,000 colleges in just the United States and there are others international, so you have so many options and choices. I did ask what helped him the most app while lying to colleges and it was to research schools online that you’re interested in and then planning on when to go visit them in person. As it’s very important to visit them in person to make sure you feel like it’s the right school for you. But looking at schools that you’re interested in and where you want to go.
In my interview with Ms. May one of the guidance counselors at Ipswich High School. I asked her “Do you like helping students with the college application process?” She told me that she likes helping students because she likes to help students figure out what path makes the most sense for them and to plan for their future. She told me, “It’s never boring and everyone is different.” I also asked her how she supports her students with the whole process and she told me I work with students to help them find the colleges and explore ones they might want to apply to. Walk through the process to apply and figure out what deadlines make most sense and letters of recommendations and she writes all her students recommendations and submits students grades through the year. College fair and financial aid night and summer boot camp with applying for a grant to run it. I also asked her about the topic of going into college undecided as it’s something I wondered during the process and I’m sure lots of other students wonder too because it’s hard to know what you want to study for when you’re in college. She told me it depends on your major and the student. Some you can’t declare and you have to explore. Most students change their major after going. It also depends on school and difficulty of major because some you can’t switch into.
