Preparing for College Applications

Preparing+for+College+Applications

As Westminster’s juniors craft their college research papers this spring, college is on the mind of many students. Many of this year’s juniors will start working on their essays and applications during the upcoming summer, so now is the time for juniors specifically, but younger students as well, to start thinking about what they will want to include on their college applications.

Chrissy Guerra, one of Westminster’s college counselors, explains that five main topics that colleges will consider are “grades, test scores, essays, recommendation letters, and activities/involvement.” Here are a few tips to prepare for college applications in these areas.

Grades: By junior or senior year, it can be hard to make a significant change in your cumulative GPA. However, continue to work hard in classes. Turn in assignments on time, prepare well for tests and finals, and hire a tutor if that will improve your understanding of the material. For freshmen and sophomores – building a strong GPA begins early in the high school experience.

ACT/SAT scores: There is one easy way to boost ACT/SAT scores, and that is prepare! Do practice tests. Princeton Review recommends working on understanding content, pacing, and getting familiar with the format of the test. Also, hiring a tutor to help you prepare can be very beneficial.

Essays: Some tips to writing the best college essay you can, as listed by Princeton Review, include starting early and writing several drafts, having an outside source edit your paper, writing about a topic that is important to you, and making sure to write about a topic not yet mentioned in your application.

Letters of Recommendation: As for letters of recommendation from high school teachers, “you want to ask a teacher that knows you well and will recommend you well,” says Guera. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be the teacher that you got the best grade in their class or your business teacher if you want to study accounting,” she adds.

Activities/Involvement: If you have some idea of what you would like to study in college, getting involved in high school extracurriculars pertaining to that area will be beneficial. When you find activities that fit your interests, get involved. Guerra states that “it’s better to look at activities as depth, not breadth, so usually it’s better to be really, really involved in a few activities, rather than just sort of being involved in a lot of them.”