College applications: The process all college-bound students must embark on to start the next stage of their lives. Every year, millions of high school seniors submit applications to universities, hoping to land their dream school. A process full of essays, activity lists, and transcripts, submitting applications brings up feelings of dread, nausea, and stress for most high school students. With millions of conflicting application tip videos and websites available for students, it’s hard to determine what pieces of advice are the real deal. Ultimately, the most useful tips come from those who have recently completed this process —high school seniors.
Picking Your School
First and foremost comes choosing which schools to apply to. Students choose between hundreds of prospective schools, looking for a college that will best suit them. In order to find the best fit, students should research a variety of schools and even visit (if possible) to determine whether a specific school fits their needs. “It’s not a great idea to close off in the beginning. You’ve got to have a well-rounded portfolio of schools so that you can switch it up in case your views change over the application process because they will,” said Esme Bankhead ‘25.
Essays
One of the most important elements of your college application is the essays you must submit to each school. Bankhead again noted, “It’s a really daunting thing, especially if you’re not good at writing about yourself. Spend as much time as you can revising your work and making it the best it can be.” While every college is different, most out-of-state schools are active on Common App, meaning that the main essay to submit for each school will be the same. However, colleges may also require supplemental essays, which will be different for each school. “I would recommend looking at the UC prompts early and thinking about your topics as soon as possible,” said Katherine King ‘25. “Writing the UC essays first is super helpful because you can use those essays for future applications, even if they’re not in the UC system.” Senior Havana Friesen added, “My biggest advice to people who are going to be going through this next year is to start earlier than you think you need to because some deadlines definitely crept up on me. I would advise starting your essays as soon as the summer before your senior year, and have an outline of all your essays and the schools you’re going to apply to before school starts in August.”
Extracurriculars
Throughout your high school career, it’s crucial to participate in a variety of activities outside of school that relate to your interests. “A lot of people get really caught up thinking that they don’t have enough stuff to put down, but as long as you have good explanations and show that you actually care about what you’re doing, you will be fine. It’s not so much about the number of extracurriculars you do. It’s their importance to you and maybe, if you’re going that way, the importance to your major,” shared Bankhead. Participating in different opportunities consistently can impact your application for the better, especially if these activities are leadership experiences or passion projects. Roselyn Morales ‘25 commented on not getting too anxious over the activities list, “Don’t stress over it too much, because in the end, they’re your own experiences and you want to sound like a real high school student. So I’d say pick the opportunities that mean the most to you and go for it.”
Counseling
Although not a necessity, having professional eyes on an application can be helpful. Some students choose TL’s college counselors to help them, while others use private counseling for more personalized advice. However, finding help from someone who has experience and a good personality can be a challenge for the average college applicant, especially if cost is a factor. Seidler again shared, “Most of the time, counselors are ridiculously expensive, have a bunch of students, and won’t necessarily pay close attention to you. I would highly recommend my college counselor. Her name is Miss Miller. She’s a teacher at Miller Creek and was so insanely helpful to me.” Even if you aren’t able to invest in a college counselor, it’s important to have another opinion to catch any errors in your application. It’s important to ask “…other people for help. Not a lot, because if you ask too many, it can be overwhelming. But the chosen few that you trust and value the opinions of” said Bankhead.
Thinking about college can be a tough and stressful process, but starting early and getting advice from current seniors can make it simpler when it’s your turn.
