Seniors Spill: College Application Tips and Tricks

Co-Written with Stella Wahanik

WORK. Students in Post High School Prep work diligently on their applications. Applying to college can be stressful, but the seniors are here to share their advice. Photo courtesy of Stella Nackos.

By the end of junior year, reality hits that college applications are just around the corner. For many students, applying to college can seem daunting and confusing; however, you are not alone. To help combat this fear, VHS seniors share their first-hand experience and advice. From college lists to applications, seniors discuss what you need to know.

There are thousands of colleges and universities in the U.S. alone, leaving students with the overwhelming decision about which ones to add to their personal college list. So how do you know which college is the right fit for you? Because every student is different, a good first step is creating a list of criteria that you would like in a college. This can include factors such as location, cost, available majors, study abroad programs, sports, and housing. Once you have this list, you can start finding colleges that fit your desired criteria.

“I actually used chat GPT, which I know may be controversial, but it’s really helpful. First of all, I made my own spreadsheet about a bunch of different things, like location, cost, and everything I wanted and compared a bunch of different schools. And then I asked AI to do those same schools plus more, and then calculate my percent chance of getting in based on all my GPA, test scores, and everything else,” senior Calliope DeSmet said.

Although it is important to check the work that AI provides, AI can be a very useful tool when creating your list. Making a google spreadsheet like DeSmet did, or even writing in a journal can help ensure that you don’t lose any of your research or thoughts on a college.

Some seniors choose to get a personal college advisor to assist them in finding the right schools for them.

“My parents signed me up for a college consulting program called Thompson College Consulting, which helps you with every single step of the process from writing essays to choosing colleges and working through the Common App. Especially with international schools, it is really helpful,” senior Emma Campbell shared.

Many seniors choose this option because having the support from someone knowledgeable can be relieving. There are also many sites that are created for college research and matching.

“I did use the Big Future college search. You can just put in your stats and the different parameters that you want, and it’ll show you which schools are reaches depending on your SAT score and stuff like that. I think that’s a pretty great resource, although I would not just base it off of that. I think actually see what you’re interested in,” senior Nate Schill said.

Another resource that can provide similar information is the online website, Niche. This website provides college matching quizzes and standard information on most U.S. colleges. Niche is free, user friendly, and easy to personalize.

Finally, here’s a tip every student can easily follow: apply to safety, target, and reach schools. This means apply to schools that you know you will be accepted to, schools that you have a solid chance of getting into, and schools that are harder for you to get accepted to. It is always worth it to try an, even if it has a low acceptance rate or is expensive because you never know if you will be accepted or receive financial aid. It is also important to have a few back up schools that you are confident you will get into just in case those other schools don’t work out.

“I think it’s important to be realistic, financially and academically, but at the same time you never know until you apply,” senior Grace Harvey said.

Adding colleges to your list can be intimidating. Just remember to identify your priorities, research the schools, and find a variety of schools before you begin narrowing down your list.

One aspect that students often dread the most when completing their college applications is the personal essay. Although the personal essay is introduced to students at the end of their junior year, it is easy to procrastinate writing and difficult to find the right topic. However, the personal essay is how you differentiate yourself, share your story, and display your character. Starting on your essay early can make you feel prepared coming into your senior year.

“I think the number one thing you should devote your time to is the main college essay, which is pretty obvious, but that's really the most impactful part of your application that you can do now, or that you can do in the moment,” Schill advises.

The personal essay may seem like an immense task to complete, but the best thing you can do is start. At VHS, juniors have the opportunity of writing a first draft essay in Ms. Howard's 11th grade English class. This is a great place to start because it gets you thinking about what they would like to write about, and sends them into the summer break with reassurance.

Along with the personal essay, many colleges require smaller supplemental essays that answer specific prompts. Because many schools require them, students can end up with 5-15 extra essays to write.

“For essays, always re-use them. A lot of the time when a school asks for something that is like a slight bit different than another school, just tweak your essay … you don't have to rewrite every single essay, it's not worth it,” Cambell said.

This is a great idea, especially if you have limited time after school to work on your essays. Although the prompts are all different, some of them are similar enough that you can re-use an essay that you already wrote to save time.

My favorite tip for writing the personal essay is to make it your personal essay. You can write about anything you want, so if it sparks something for you, write about it and the words will come easily.

“It’s your story and that’s what matters…You can write about something small, as long as it is important to you,” Harvey said.

Don’t be scared of the essays. Start early, recycle, and write something you care about.

Colleges and universities are expensive. To make sure your education is not a financial burden, it’s important to research and apply to scholarships, and fill out the required financial aid forms. Many universities offer scholarships to students, but they’re not guaranteed, and are usually competitive or not very large sums of money. This is why scholarships from outside organizations can be extremely helpful. It can be difficult for students to find scholarships or have the motivation to research them, but there are online platforms that will make it easier. Namely, College Board’s BigFuture, Bold.org, and Fastweb. These are all scholarship search engines that allow students to search for scholarships that align with their interests, major, and identity.

A common scholarship awarded by universities is the merit scholarship, an award for high achieving students who earn high grades.

“I got admitted into some [scholarships] because of my GPA…for example Pacific Lutheran University gave me a scholarship of $30,000 based on grades alone,” Campbell stated.

Amounts tend to vary, but students usually receive more money from private institutions rather than public ones. Many students do receive scholarships from their school, but a lot of the time the scholarship doesn’t cover much of tuition or living expenses, which is why it’s important to apply for scholarships outside of the school as well.

The main financial aid form required by colleges and universities is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Although the federal deadline to submit the FAFSA application is later in the year, around June 30th, it is beneficial to submit this form earlier rather than later because many schools have earlier deadlines, and often award funds on a first-come, first-serve basis. The FAFSA application has forms for both the student and parent to fill out. Another financial aid application that most private schools use is the College Scholarship Search profile, or CSS profile, that is run through College Board. This profile goes more in depth on a family’s financial status than the FAFSA application, and is used by the schools as part of their holistic review of how much aid a particular student should receive from them.

Universities all over the world have different requirements for a student’s application, thus there are multiple application platforms that must be used when applying. The most common application platforms many VHS students have used includes Common App, Cal State Apply, the UC application, and Education Planner BC. The most daunting one of all is none other than the Common App. It is the largest application platform and is used by over 900 schools in the US. The Common App requires students to fill out many categories including Family, Education, Testing, Activities, Writing, and Courses and Grades. Although that may seem like a lot of questions to fill out, the application opens on August 1st, which leaves students plenty of time to get a head start on early action and early decision applications way before they are due.

“Start over the summer…It seems daunting because there are so many categories, but writing your parents’ names down is not that hard… there’s a lot of things you can get out of the way,” DeSmet mentioned.

Some parts of the application are fairly quick and easy to fill out, but others can take some time, so be sure to carve out a time for just working on those smaller sections.

“It makes sense why they're asking for this information and that, but there are some parts of it that are unwieldy… there’s one where you have to manually put in every class you’ve taken in High school,” Schill stated.

Many of the sections may seem like a drag, but students just need to power through because it will pay off in the long run. The UC application and Cal State Apply have many of the same prompts as the Common App, making it fairly straightforward for students when filling out the application. The many application platforms have requirements and ways of doing things that differentiate one another, it’s important to know what those are so one can prepare to efficiently fill them out well before the first deadline.

The application process can be stressful at times, but utilizing the summer months to get a head start on college lists and essays will leave a positive impact on your application. It’s important to apply for scholarships and fill out the financial aid application when it becomes available. If a student ever needs help in their application process they can reach out to their counselor, or the admissions committee of a school they are applying to. Both are willing to help with any question they may have.

APPLY. Students apply for the majority of their colleges through Common App. Although everyone’s path is different, VHS seniors share their tips and tricks when applying to colleges. Photo courtesy of Common App.