Your senior year in high school can be fun and filled with exciting events. However, it also comes with new responsibilities and challenges. A major challenge you’ll face is filling out your college applications, and there are so many other things to do. First, you have to complete various extracurricular activities. You also need to get letters of recommendation from your teachers. Then there’s the most stressful of them all: the personal statement.
If you’re a high school senior and you’d like to know how to complete your college applications successfully, these few tips could be helpful.
Break big tasks into smaller tasks.
As the perfect way to make the application process less overwhelming, you could try breaking the large tasks into mini-tasks and work from there; for example, start with your personal statement essay. Some universities ask for essays as long as 250 to 650 words, which may seem a bit strenuous if you’re unsure what to write. You could break it down into 50 words per day, depending on your daily schedule. Your activities list could also seem like a big task for you, so you could break down the things on your list to the simplest tasks to make it easier for you to finish.
If you’re applying to multiple colleges, you could try filling up applications for one college per day. You could also dedicate a set period like 30 minutes every day to complete your tasks. For example, you could sit at 2 P.M. each day for 20 minutes and write the final supplement essay until it has been completed. To stay organized, make sure you sort your important documents into categorized and labeled folders either on your computer or in custom printed folders from Mines Press if they’re hard copies.
Ask for help if you need it.
If this is your first time putting together college applications, it’s normal to be clueless about a few things. There’s no shame in seeking help if you need it. You could approach your school guidance counselor, teachers, parents, or older siblings for help. If those people aren’t available to lend you some help, you could ask a colleague who seems to know what they’re doing.
If you don’t have anyone around you who can help, perhaps you could use some other resources. For example, an admission expert platform like empowerly.com can help you complete your college applications in no time. This website helps you get personalized guidance from qualified college admissions counselors. You’ll be matched with an admissions consultant who suits you and is guided through extracurricular development, academic planning, personal essay drafting, and other activities you would like to complete.
Set timelines and prioritize your tasks.
Make sure to check your application deadlines so you can finish everything on time. It’s best to work backward from each deadline and start setting goals. And if you’re applying early, schedule enough time to change or review everything. As a heads up, note that it’s safe to complete all your applications 10 days before the final deadline.
Also, prioritizing your tasks helps you invest more time and energy in the more important stuff. Most college application requirements are connected. For example, you’ll need a letter of recommendation from one or two teachers, but they may need to know your activities to include your accomplishments and important information in the letter. In this case, you’ll need to complete your activities resume before getting your letter of recommendation. To make it easier for you to prioritize, you could write your tasks down on sticky notes, then begin tackling them one by one.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all the college brochures staring at you, and you may be tempted to procrastinate. However, completing your college applications doesn’t always have to be stressful. All in all, we hope these tips come in handy.