WHAT CAN I DO NOW TO BE READY TO APPLY FOR COLLEGE?
By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to:
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College Choice
The first piece to the college admissions puzzle is College Choice. How do you decide where you want to go to college? Follow the link below and you will be guided through important questions to help you narrow down your choice.
College Application Do's and Don'ts
Do read directions. Pay attention to the instructions for each application. For example, directions usually specify a minimum and maximum number of words for essays and short answers.
Don't rush or work on automatic pilot. Slow down. Rushing through your application can cause you to skip key sections and leave typos and misspellings. Write your essay and short answers in separate documents that you can proof and spell check before adding them to your application.
Do pay attention to deadlines. A college usually won't accept a late application. Different parts of an application may have different deadlines. If you are mailing an application, allow a realistic amount of delivery time and arrange for proof of delivery.
Don't procrastinate. Give yourself plenty of time to work on your essay. Some students allow several weeks. Give your teachers at least a month to complete your letters of recommendation. Remember the tortoise? Slow and steady wins the race.
Do pay attention to grammar and spelling. You may be a fine college candidate, but admission counselors will never know that if they can't get past your poor writing. Keep your language simple and to the point. Double-check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Ask a parent or teacher to proof your application.
Don't let Mom or Dad fill out your application. They are not going to be around to hold your hand once you are in college. This is your job. Plus, admission officers are skilled at detecting a parent's hand in an application.
Do get organized. Staying organized is the easiest way of staying on top of your applications. Keep each application in a separate folder, make a calendar of all your deadlines, and make your own deadlines so you won't put things off.
Don't make an extracurricular laundry list. It is more impressive to highlight the activities that got most of your attention and show your commitment and leadership.
Do get presentable online. Set up an adult-friendly e-mail account that you can check from anywhere. And clean up your social networking pages. If you think colleges will never look, you may be right. But don't take the risk.
Don't forget other pieces of your application. It's easy to think you are done when you click the submit button. Be sure to finish all the steps, such as arranging for teacher recommendations and completing supplements and financial aid documents.
Do keep all correspondence. You may need to prove that you sent or received a document by a certain date. In a folder for each college, keep letters, print e-mail messages, and make notes of phone calls. Note the date and time received.
Don't forget to breathe. When you are stressed out you are more likely to make mistakes. Calm down, ask for help, or come back to the tough questions later. Both your peace of mind and your admission chances are bound to improve.
Don't rush or work on automatic pilot. Slow down. Rushing through your application can cause you to skip key sections and leave typos and misspellings. Write your essay and short answers in separate documents that you can proof and spell check before adding them to your application.
Do pay attention to deadlines. A college usually won't accept a late application. Different parts of an application may have different deadlines. If you are mailing an application, allow a realistic amount of delivery time and arrange for proof of delivery.
Don't procrastinate. Give yourself plenty of time to work on your essay. Some students allow several weeks. Give your teachers at least a month to complete your letters of recommendation. Remember the tortoise? Slow and steady wins the race.
Do pay attention to grammar and spelling. You may be a fine college candidate, but admission counselors will never know that if they can't get past your poor writing. Keep your language simple and to the point. Double-check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Ask a parent or teacher to proof your application.
Don't let Mom or Dad fill out your application. They are not going to be around to hold your hand once you are in college. This is your job. Plus, admission officers are skilled at detecting a parent's hand in an application.
Do get organized. Staying organized is the easiest way of staying on top of your applications. Keep each application in a separate folder, make a calendar of all your deadlines, and make your own deadlines so you won't put things off.
Don't make an extracurricular laundry list. It is more impressive to highlight the activities that got most of your attention and show your commitment and leadership.
Do get presentable online. Set up an adult-friendly e-mail account that you can check from anywhere. And clean up your social networking pages. If you think colleges will never look, you may be right. But don't take the risk.
Don't forget other pieces of your application. It's easy to think you are done when you click the submit button. Be sure to finish all the steps, such as arranging for teacher recommendations and completing supplements and financial aid documents.
Do keep all correspondence. You may need to prove that you sent or received a document by a certain date. In a folder for each college, keep letters, print e-mail messages, and make notes of phone calls. Note the date and time received.
Don't forget to breathe. When you are stressed out you are more likely to make mistakes. Calm down, ask for help, or come back to the tough questions later. Both your peace of mind and your admission chances are bound to improve.
Staying Organized
Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines! Whether getting recommendations from teachers, sending in applications, or even writing a thank you note to an admissions officer you met during a campus visit, there's always something to remember to do.
As you navigate through the college application process, keep a spreadsheet to stay organized, track requirements, and manage deadlines. You can use the template provided or create your own spreadsheet in GoogleSheets or Excel. |
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How to Write Your College Application Resume
Your admission resume can help you shine when you apply to colleges, for scholarships, and more. An effective college admission resume is an easily scanned summary of what you achieved during high school. Instead of being a laundry list, your resume should highlight your highest accomplishments.
How to Get Started with Your Resume
Decide What Should Go Into Your Resume
Whittle your list down to your most impressive accomplishments. (If you are not sure it's impressive, it probably isn't.) You don't need to include your GPA and scores, since colleges will see them in your application.
Organizing Your Resume
Organize the information into an easy-to-read document that is no longer than two pages. Below are handy categories to use.
Make Your Resume Easy to Scan
Put your full name, address, phone number, e-mail, and your high school(s) at the top. Here are some commonly used approaches to listing your entries.
Your admission resume can help you shine when you apply to colleges, for scholarships, and more. An effective college admission resume is an easily scanned summary of what you achieved during high school. Instead of being a laundry list, your resume should highlight your highest accomplishments.
How to Get Started with Your Resume
- Brainstorm everything you've accomplished. Take time to think about your accomplishments over your high school years. Ask your parents and your counselor to help with brainstorming.
- List everything that makes you most stand out besides grades and scores. That includes awards, leadership roles, community service, special talents or hobbies, jobs, projects you led, and so on.
- Note experiences that vividly show your determination, initiative, and passion. For example, colleges might be impressed if you stayed after school to tutor struggling students, or if you picked up a second language by engaging with coworkers at a part-time job.
Decide What Should Go Into Your Resume
Whittle your list down to your most impressive accomplishments. (If you are not sure it's impressive, it probably isn't.) You don't need to include your GPA and scores, since colleges will see them in your application.
- Include your highest achievements and honors.
- Describe major leadership roles and initiatives you have undertaken.
- Include unusual but impressive activities, experiences, and special skills that don't fit neatly into the activity sections of college applications.
- If you have spent significant time working outside of school, include your work experience.
- Mention special circumstances, such as a part-time job, that kept you from participating in outside activities as much as you wanted to.
Organizing Your Resume
Organize the information into an easy-to-read document that is no longer than two pages. Below are handy categories to use.
- Activities and work. Briefly describe the activity, your role in it, your contribution to it, the school year(s) you participated, any leadership positions you held, and how many weeks and hours per week you contributed.
- Honors and awards. Provide the name of the award or leadership position, a brief description, why you won it, and the date you received it.
- Other experiences and skills. Choose those that show your initiative and commitment. Describe the experience or skill, the challenges you faced, the period of time you devoted to it, and the result of your commitment.
Make Your Resume Easy to Scan
Put your full name, address, phone number, e-mail, and your high school(s) at the top. Here are some commonly used approaches to listing your entries.
- Reverse chronological order, with the most recent entry listed first
- By importance, with the entry most important to you listed first
- By time commitment, with the largest time commitment listed first
- By leadership, with the strongest leadership role listed first
- By type, e.g., school-based activities, community service, work experience, honors/awards, hobbies and special interests
Do I Need to Retake the ACT?
There is really no disadvantage to retaking the ACT to improve your score. 56% of students who retake the ACT improve their composite score. The lower you original score is the better chance of increasing your score taking the ACT a second time.
Click the LearningExpress picture above to access ACT and AP Prep tutorials. Access a wealth of resources online at:
www.utahfutures.org |
MORE INFO AND RESOURCES
Visit the UHS Counseling Website for even more resources
http://uintahcounseling.weebly.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html
5 Things Your Need to Know About College AdmissionClick on the picture to link to video.
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What Kind of Students Do Colleges Want?Click on the picture to link to the video.
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