To many students, the process of applying to college is extremely intimidating. It can be hard to know where to start and how to be successful.
Applying for Scholarships
This is one step that can be hugely important for people entering college, it can be the deciding factor on where you go to college. If you don’t get enough scholarships, you might not be able to afford the school you want, so make these a priority.
You can start applying to some scholarships early, deadlines are never-ending, and you can apply even if you’re not a senior. Some scholarships are available to students as young as freshmen. So, get started now.
Apply to as many as possible; don’t just focus on the ones highly marketed on websites. Don’t just apply to the bolded “$20,000 No Essay Scholarship” and decide you’re good to go. You’re not.
Check out the materials provided by counselors, and look at the scholarship websites for students of Olathe schools. The more specific, the less competition you will have. Don’t apply only to $5,000+ scholarships; apply to the $250, $500 and $1000 scholarships. They add up.
Tour Colleges
Even if you have known where you want to go your entire life, tour everywhere you can. Even if it is a school you didn’t know about or aren’t super interested in, tour it, you may be surprised after learning more about it.
I spent a lot of my life assuming that KU would be a huge contender for which college I would attend. However, one tour of the journalism school was enough for me to realize that it wasn’t the fit for me.
Tour the colleges you know as well as the ones you don’t; if there is any possibility of you attending, you should try to see it in person. Start early so that you have seen plenty of schools; it will help you compare and figure out what kind of school may be the best fit for you.
Go to the Admitted Students Days
These go hand in hand with touring colleges; prioritize these over simple tours because they offer so much more (oftentimes free merch, too).
A lot of schools have things called “Admitted Students Day”—or something similar. Mizzou called it “Meet Mizzou Day.” They are days dedicated to letting students and their families learn about the campus, their specific majors, how the school functions and anything else they may want to know before committing to a school.
These days were detrimental to me in figuring out where I wanted to go. Not only did they help me discover my love for a certain school, but they also taught me what schools were not for me.
Apply Everywhere
Make sure that you apply everywhere, especially if it is free. Apply to schools on both coasts, in the South and in the Midwest. Because as you get further into the process and begin seeing more of student life at those colleges, your opinions might change.
Applying to schools isn’t a contract, you can decide you don’t want to move away or decide that you want to stay close to home. But it is better to have the options so you don’t have to stress out about not having enough choices.
Tips for the Application Process
Create a list of the schools you are applying to so that you have a way to see all of the schools at once. For me, that was a spreadsheet with columns tracking my application, acceptance, location, cost to apply and more.
Some schools, like High Point University, offered “apply free” codes publicized in emails and on social media. These codes can be beneficial to students wanting to apply to more places but not having the money to potentially waste, depending on attendance, on applying to lots of schools.
Tips for the Decision Process
Figure out what you want out of college. It’s best to go into this process with an idea of what you are looking for in a college beyond just a good degree. Some people want the glamorized “college experience,” but that experience comes with a more expensive tuition. Some people prefer a less traditional college experience for more focus on their education, which usually comes with a lower tuition. Do you want to live in a big city or a small one? How about a big school or a small one? Do you want to stay in-state or move out-of-state?
Decide at the beginning so you know what you want to look at. These opinions can always change, of course, but it will make it easier to have an idea of what you want from the beginning.
Don’t Panic
No matter how much you prepare, a little panic is inevitable. Choosing what college you are going to go to is a huge decision. Not every part of this process is going to go the way you want it to. Just don’t panic.
If things don’t go your way, and you want to try again, just remember that community college is a great option. Getting your Bachelors and all your general education classes out of the way can set you up to transfer into a 4-year university after a redo.
Don’t Get Hung Up on Rejection
There are 3,982 postsecondary institutions that you can get a degree from in the United States; one of them is the place for you. Rejection can suck, especially if you have your heart set on one specific school. But there is more than one school out there that will be the right fit for you, and even if it isn’t your first choice, you will grow to love it.
Applying for and deciding where you will go to college is a stressful process. It is inevitable to get stressed at one point, but the number one piece of advice applicable to the entire process is to start early.
Start early so you can figure out what you want, how you’re going to do it, and create a plan.
Don’t let this process consume your senior year; stay calm because no matter where you end up, whatever you choose to do will work out in the end.
