Entries Tagged as Applying to College

 Colleges want your College Admissions Essay because they are trying to decide whether or not you would be a good member of their college community if they accept you. Period.

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Are you a late bloomer? If you are, you find yourself in pretty impressive company. After all, many highly successful people didn’t discover their life calling until after high school, and some until they were well into adulthood. They include Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Julia Child, Danny Aiello and Rocky Marciano.  

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Misconception #1: You have already missed the deadlines to take the SAT or the ACT tests, so you can’t start college this year. That’s bunk. A number of traditional colleges are now making standardized tests optional.  And don’t forget that you can enroll in any course you want at StraighterLine without taking standardized tests ahead of time.

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I saw this problem arise a lot when I was working as an SAT tutor. With only a month until an SAT test date, for example, a student would suddenly realize that he or she needed to add 100 points or more to each of the three SAT sections in order to get into a particular college. And I have to tell you, it’s tough to boost scores that much in just a short period of time. But here are three strategies than can often get the job done: 

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“Should I apply to college early decision, early action, or just file regular old applications,” is a question that guidance counselors hear from students almost daily. No mistake about it, early decision and early action are confusing.  Let’s take a closer look.

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This advice is probably different from what you are hearing from your guidance counselor, your teachers, your friends, and possibly your parents too. But when you come right down to it, the secret of a successful college search is to try to fulfill your own expectations, not those of all those other people, right?  Another secret is to go through your search with an open mind, and a sense of adventure and discovery. 

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You have to understand that there are three different kinds of letters of recommendation, and you have to handle them in different ways. Let’s take a look at how you can get the most benefit from each of them.

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Have your plans to attend college stalled? If so, it’s hardly a wonder. After all, applying to college is a pretty off-putting process. You have to get your high school transcripts sent to the colleges where you want to apply. You have to take the SAT, the ACT and other standardized tests. You have to write an application essay for the standard application, and maybe a few more if required. You have to get people to write recommendation letters for you. You have to fill out the FAFSA to get financial aid, and you have to apply for loans. Maybe you also have to schedule interviews and college visits.

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Are you applying to college this year? Or are you the parent of a student who will be? Then get ready for tuition sticker shock. At a private college or university, you’re going to be paying something in the neighborhood of $50,000 a year for tuition and room and board. Even if you are applying to a state school and you live in-state, you are going to be writing a check every year for about $20,000.

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U.S. News has again published its annual rankings of colleges and universities. And in publications from coast to coast, reporters are again taking aim and blasting away at everything that is wrong with them.  Like the first day of duck hunting season, it happens every year.

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