With college applications being submitted and our futures to be considered, it’s essential to understand what will give you the most significant advantage in your application process. I spoke with some high school graduates currently attending their college of choice, trying to figure out the three most important things that will help bring college acceptance.
1. “Ha[ve] college advisors to help” –
Our school’s college advisors – Mrs. Martin, Mr. Stone, and Mrs. Youngblood – are here to help. Whether you’re trying to figure out your future career or college, how to pass the ACT/SAT, or how to fill out FAFSA, applications, scholarships, etc. You may have someone in your life who already has gone through this process or understands how to get through it, but having our college and career advisors help you will boost your standardized testing scores, quicken the application process, and help you understand what is right for you.
2. “…having really strong writers write [your] letters of recommendation” –
It is so important to create connections with teachers and other school faculty. Whether it’s optional or not, your chances of getting into the school of your choice will increase with a good letter of recommendation. A Letter of Recommendation is a message to the college a student has applied to from someone who knows the student. The better the letter, the better your chances. While it doesn’t have to be written by a teacher – a parent, teacher, boss, or church leader could also write one – a letter written by one is beneficial. Teachers see your work ethic, character, determination, intellectual strengths and weaknesses, and more. By making strong connections with your teachers, you have more people to choose from when applying. Asking a teacher you don’t interact with much is useless; make sure that the person you ask is someone who truly knows you and can write about your strengths.
3. When writing your essay, make sure you are “keep[ing] to the prompt/making sure [you’re] giving [your]self enough credit, and showing [your]’ desire to be there – even if it’s not in [your] top choices” –
One of the most critical parts of your application is your essay. Every college trip you go on or college fair you go to, you are constantly told that they want nothing but proper grammar/sentence structure and to know who you are through your essay. Even if you’re only applying to a school as a backup or because your parents made you, the school must see that you want to be accepted. If you apply somewhere and don’t let them know who you are and how badly you want to go there, they’ll give it to someone who has shown they care about their spot at their school.
Many factors go into the college acceptance process, and each school has differing ideas on what an excellent addition to their university is. Some of the components are out of your control, but even with these advantages and disadvantages, if you apply yourself and use the resources available to you, you can succeed.
