Narrowing Your College List

As you go through your senior year of high school, the question you will hear over and over again is "Where are you going to college?" For some people this is a relatively easy question to answer, but for many, this question can bring with it a lot of fear and uncertainty. Obviously, not knowing if you will be accepted to the college you hope to attend is one area of concern, but for many students even getting started with the application process is a challenge. It can feel overwhelming to know that there are so many colleges out there - colleges you have not even heard of previously - and yet you are being ask to select and apply to the schools which will be a part of your future. Please take a deep breath and try to relax. You will be able to get through the college application process. Hopefully, if you are entering your senior year, our past conversations have pushed you to start selecting schools of interest. For those of you who are still unsure of which colleges you would like to apply, I found these articles/ blot posts that I think might interest you.

Top 4 Tips for Making Your College Application List

4 More Tips

What are my chances?

10 Reasons to go to a Small College

College Visits

While traveling this summer for family vacations, don't forget to stop by the local colleges and walk around their campuses. Even if it is not a school you are considering, it is always beneficial to see different college environments to get a feel for the options available to you in the future. And, of course, please remember to take a picture of you somewhere on each campus that you visit for me!

To help encourage and guide your college visit experiences, below are some articles that might interest you.

Campus Visits top the list of College Search Tools

Advice from a Student Campus Tour Guide

4 Reasons Why TheLibrary Should Affect Your College Choice

College Visits: Take a Break on Campus

9 Alternatives to a College Visit

College Admissions Tests

As we start looking ahead to the start of the school year, for the seniors, one important area to keep in mind is the college admission test. Taking the ACT or SAT is a standard part of most 4-year college applications. You need to watch your registration deadlines carefully! (If you are registering for the ACT, don't forget to sign up to take it with writing.)

Fall Test Dates and Registration Deadlines:

September 11th ACT – Register by August 6th
October 9th SAT – Register by September 10th
October 23rd ACT – Register by September 17th
November 6th SAT – Register by October 8th
December 4th SAT – Register by November 5th
December 11th ACT – Register by November 5th

One of the questions I am often asked is how a student’s scores on the ACT compare with their scores on the SAT. Their websites include concordance tables to help provide additional insight as a reference tool for you and your parents. I hope you will find it useful as you make your testing choices.

There have been multiple articles about college admissions tests that have caught my eye as being helpful for you.

Planning Ahead: Getting a jump on standardized testing

8 Simple Test Prep Tips You Can Take to the Beach

Do Colleges Pay Attention to SAT Writing Scores?

Your SAT score has little to do with your life

Volunteering

The summer is half way over. Have you been productive? Have you accomplished any of the goals that you had hoped to achieve? I had pretty lofty expectations for some of the things that I had hoped to accomplish this summer and I certainly haven't come close to making it through all (or even half) of the items on my "to do list," but I continue trying to check items off the list. One of the great goals I know that many of you had this summer was to make a difference in the community by volunteering your time, talents, and skills. Have you enjoyed your volunteer experiences so far? If you haven't thought much about volunteering, there is still time to get involved! Here are a few articles about volunteering that might interest you:

It's Not Too Late to Start Volunteering

10 Creative Ways for Teens to Volunteer in Their Communities

10 Reasons Why Every High School Student Should Volunteer

College Admisions & World Cup

Have you been caught up in the World Cup Soccer fever? To be completely honest, I have not, but I know that a lot of people have enjoyed the opportunity to watch all of the games and are looking forward to today's championship game. I read this comparison between the similarities of world cup soccer and the college admissions process and thought you might enjoy it too. Good luck to whichever team you are cheering for in the game...

Summer School

The first session of summer school is winding down and tomorrow is the last day. The next session of summer school will begin on Monday. I have heard very positive reports about how well many of my students are doing so far in summer school. Great job! If you have not signed up for the second session of summer school and were still planning on taking a class, please make sure you get registered tomorrow or Monday morning before classes begin at the very latest! It is hard to believe that it is July and the summer is approaching the half-way point. I hope you are enjoying your summer making great memories, having wonderful experiences, and being productive in big or small ways.

Creating Your Resume

Hopefully you are also balancing being productive with having fun this summer. If you are wondering what you should be doing this summer, one of the items that I hope you have on your "To Do" list is to create or update your resume.

It doesn't have to be a formal resume, but it is important to compile a detailed list of:
- all of your activities including clubs, community groups, and sports
- awards received - it is helpful to know the award name, who it was from and reason for the recognition
- community service commitments with hours
- employment with hours

You can do this informally (just don't lose it!) on a sheet of paper or you can use the resume feature in PrepHQ to add your list there (this is what I would recommend!). One thing I really like about the PrepHQ resume builder is that you can tell it to create a resume for you and it will format it for you to be able to print in case you need a formal resume for a job application or for a college application.

Adding to and keeping this list updated is an important step for students of every age because when you sit down to start working on your college applications they are going to ask you over and over again to list out these types of items so having a complete list is key. I also hope it goes without saying that not only should the list be complete, but it should also be ACCURATE! Do NOT make up activities, awards, or other involvement that you did not participate in and did not earn!