Hi, everyone! College applications can be intimidating and stressful—PEER has got your back! We want to help you succeed when applying to colleges!

These tips are to help you with everything college related, and we want to make sure we answer all of your college related questions.

It is our hope that this guide will provide rising juniors and seniors with the knowledge to comfortably navigate the sometimes-stressful college application process. 

General Advice…

• Make sure you ask your teacher for a letter of rec and getting their affirmation before putting in the request in Naviance.
• Pay attention to what specific schools require. There are lots of variations from one college to another.
• Try to correctly report your GPA. We are on a 4.0 GPA scale. We use a weighted GPA system that has students the ability to have a higher GPA than a 4.0
• For your GPA calculating purposes: in an AP course, an A+ = 5.3, vs an Honors A+ = 4.8, vs Academic A+ = 4.3

Junior Year…

• Take challenging courses
• Keep GPA up
• Try thinking about colleges you’re interested in
• Apply for leadership roles in extracurriculars to show that you are a leader
• Join clubs and make an impact in them (don’t just join as many clubs as possible—colleges want students who dedicate themselves meaningfully in specific areas)
• Make sure you know or at least have an idea of the major you want to apply for (you can always change it, but it’s good to know when filling out applications senior year!)
• Visit college campuses early while students are in school
• Start thinking of teachers from whom you can get recommendation letters. The sooner you ask, the more time they have to write you a great letter.
• Make sure you have test scores (SAT/ACT) if required and make sure the score is where you want it to be.
• Make sure to volunteer as much as possible.
• Start brainstorming ideas for your common app essay, especially in the summer

Senior Year…

• Write as many supplements (additional essays on college applications) in the summer as you can!
• Finish your common app essay in the summer.
• Senioritis is REAL!! Don’t start slacking off. Keep in mind that the information you are learning will help you in college!
• Make a common app account
• Finish your common app part of the application and the basic information section of each college (that way you’re left with only the writing supplements)
• Don’t overload yourself with applications at the last minute. Make a plan to get all of your applications done by a certain date (i.e. say “I will have all my applications done by the first of november)
• figure out what schools you cannot apply to on common app.
• Review and edit your essay 1, 2, and 3 times if needed to craft the essay that really captures YOU and who you are. Ask for sincere feedback from people whose opinions you trust.
• If you’re applying to a school that requires multiple essays, write one essay per day. Don’t try to write all of them in one day; it will inhibit your ability to craft a well-written essay.
• Don’t write more essays than you have to. If you find similar prompts between different schools it’s okay to reuse the same essay for a different school.
• Once you get your essay written and have it at a point where you are happy with what you have written, add it to the application so that you’re not stressing over the minute details up to the day you’re submitting.
• Make 2 college essays drafts instead of one just in case you don’t like the first one
  • – if you are a procrastinator, this is helpful because you can switch essays anytime!!
• Don’t write a “cookie-cutter essay”, write about something that shows YOU and how unique you are (OUT OF THE BOX CHOICES!!)
• Make a list of colleges you would like to apply to and add those colleges to your common app
• Make sure you research each college you apply to in depth to ensure you really want to go there. For most people, there is no need to apply to 25 colleges (a lot of applications $$$)!!
• Start researching scholarships you can apply for
• Email teachers you would like to get a letter of recommendation from
  • usually 1-2 teachers and then your counselor
  • If it’s possible to ask them in person, do that!
• Research application deadlines for the schools you want to apply to
• Fill out your FAFSA/CSS as early as possible, which must be filled out if you want to be eligible for federal financial aid.
• Talk to your parents about FAFSA/CSS process and what documents you need in advance
• Take advanced courses to show colleges that you’re not giving up just because you’re a senior
• Figure out and manage which schools require you to send an unofficial transcript to their admissions office. Then, request them on naviance
• Send AP exam scores to schools — it’s your responsibility (and your money) that is required to get the scores sent to your potential colleges. It is not done by counseling!

Good luck — hope this helps! 🙂