For rising seniors who do not plan ahead, the added workload of the college application process will plague the finish line of high school with tedious essay revisions, and countless common app questions. Having just gone through the process myself, and having learned through trial and error, I offer these tips to this year’s juniors (and any sophomores or freshmen already planning ahead) to make the application process as easy and efficient as possible.

1. Start thinking about your personal essay, and if you have an idea, start writing!

With all the tedious work of the application, the personal essay is one of the most important parts because colleges care more about who you are than what score you received on certain tests. If you have no idea what to write about, take some time to make a prewrite just about yourself: your strengths, weaknesses that you have overcome, important times in your life that made you who you are… things like that! This way, you can get all of your ideas out, and maybe boost your confidence a little bit. I recommend starting your essay this summer if you are a junior. Also, La Salle offers a summer class for the college essay that you could take for more assistance.

2. Apply Early

Though applying regular vs. early decision will usually not change your chances of getting into the college, getting your acceptance letter early makes it worth not procrastinating. I get the whole not knowing where you want to go yet deal, but get some applications in early. If you do, with my experience in many schools, you will be considered higher for more merit scholarships. Also, the earlier you are accepted (to some colleges), the higher up you are on the housing list to get the dorm you want. School work and college stress may get worse as the year goes on, so I encourage you to get your applications in as quickly as possible so you have the most time to weigh your options and make a decision.

In my own experience, applying early made all the difference. I applied early to three schools, and if I had not, I do not think I could have taken the stress of waiting to hear back from all of my colleges because my regular decision applications did not come back with my acceptance until late March, when commitment day is May 1st. With three acceptances that arrived earlier, I was able to start thinking about want I want in my future school earlier, and I was able to do so seriously since I knew I had the option to attend each place.

3. Know the difference between early action and early decision

If you decide to apply early, there are two different types — early action or early decision, which both involve sending in your application around November. Applying early action means that you will apply and hear back from the college earlier than a regular decision applicant, usually in January or February. Early decision, however, is a commitment to a college. Clicking the simple button of early decision instead of action means that you are committing to going to that college if they accept you, so if you do this, it better be your for sure first choice.

4. Have someone review your application

Sometimes autocorrect is not in our favor, and sometimes we just spell things wrong. Have a parent, friend, or teacher take a close look at each part of your application, whether it is your essay, answers to supplementary questions, or anything else. This is more important than you think it is, because this is your first impression to the college admissions staff.

5. Send your SAT/ ACT scores to colleges as early as possible

This part of the process gets confusing with all the credit card information, multiple retakes (depending on who you are), and not knowing if a college received the information or not, so just send them in early! Many people do not know that you can request your scores even before you get them back, which I highly recommend doing, unless you aren’t too sure about your success. This means right when your scores are all added up, they will be sent right away. Doing this will ensure a college will receive them on time to review your application as a whole, because you don’t want to be that one stack of information sitting in a folder waiting to be looked at because you haven’t sent in your score yet; it doesn’t look good!

In my own application process, I had forgotten to send my scores to Boston U, and it caused me not to receive my acceptance until early April and not be considered for scholarships because of my late acceptance. I was not able to have enough time to think seriously about the school like I did the others, or even consider it for the high cost because of this.

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Though I figured out these tips along the way of my application process and it ended up working out perfectly, I hope I can help you make the application process less stressful so you can enjoy everything else going on during senior year, and have the ability to find the college that fits you best as early as you can.

Creative Commons photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/shilad/4610413145/