College applications are an essential reality for seniors as they prepare to move on to the next stage of their academic career. In many cases, filling out applications can become a daunting and detailed prospect and can take up a significant amount of a student’s time. Applications also come at a time when students are dealing with many other academic responsibilities, sometimes resulting in high levels of stress and the need for a little bit of help.
Get organized!
It’s really important for students to get organized before they jump into filling out college applications. They should have a list of all of the colleges they plan to apply to, all of the deadlines they need to follow, and any other important dates specified by the college. Being organized will help students know how much time they need to devote to each aspect of their applications and lower a lot of their stress in the long run.
Prioritize
It’s also essential for students to prioritize which applications they work on first. They may make a list based on due dates, or their desire to attend a particular college, or based on scholarship deadlines. If students have not yet decided what their top choice, target, and safety schools will be, now is a good time to sit down and think about which colleges will best suit their individual needs and goals.
Ask for help
Working with a college counselor can help take away a lot of the stress of applying to colleges. College counselors can help students with organization, set up reminders, and talk to them about what each university has to offer its students. That can free up a lot of time for applicants to focus on important things like their personal essay or arranging for college visits. Working with an expert also takes some of the guesswork out of applying to college, ultimately making the process more fun and less stressful.
Look for a good match
Before starting applications, students will need to decide which colleges they actually want to apply to. One of the best ways to determine where to apply is to look for the best match. Students are encouraged to look at their current GPA and test scores, as well as their extracurricular interests, and what major field of study intrigues them the most. At this stage, students may not be ready to think about career fields but they can definitely think about subjects they excel in and are most interested in exploring further.
