Supplements

Most colleges require a supplement to the common application. The supplement includes basic personal information such as address and email as well as future plans. They also requrie essays or short statements.

Examples of essay questions are:
What are your strengths and how will you use them at our school?
There are thousands of colleges and univiersities across the U.S., why did you choose this school?
Tell us something we don’t already know about you from your common application.
What is the best advice you have recieved and who did you recieve it from?

Examples of short answer questions are:
What are five words that describe you best?
What qualities do you admire most in other people?
What would you do with a free afternoon?

Tips for writing essays and other helpful college application information can be found on Not Your Average Admission Blog.

School Forms

Each college requires you to submit school forms. The common application lists the school forms required by each college. The individual college website also have a list.

Teacher Evaluation – Most schools require two recommendations from teachers you have had in grades 9-12. The teachers are required to fill out a form downloaded from the common app website as well as write a letter of recommendation.

Counselor School Form – This is required by every school. It includes an evaluation form downloaded from the common app website as well as a letter of recommendation and an official copy of your official transcript.

Midyear Report – The midyear report must be sent by your high school counselor after the first semester of your senior year. It includes an evaluation form as well as an updated copy of your official transcript.

Final Report – This is similar to the midyear report. It must be sent after your final grades are added to your official transcript.

Teacher College Admissions Blog offers advice for teachers who will write recommendations. Make sure you choose teachers who have had you in an academic subject such as math or science. It is bet to choose teachers who know you well and have taught you for more than one year.

The Common Application Writing Section

The first part of the common application writing section asks you to elaborate on an extra carricular activity or work experience. In this section don’t worry about listing your accomplishments, you should have already done this in the activities section. Focus on what the activity/experience has taught you and/or what it involves. Because there is a maximum of 150 words, it’s important to focus on one idea with as many details as possible.

The second part of the writing section allows you to choose an essay topic. On the application for admission in fall of 2009, the choices were:

1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievment, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you faced and its impact on you.
2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you and describe that influence.
4. Describe a character in fiction, historical figure, or creative work that has had an influence on you and explain that influence.
5. Given your personal backround, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

There is also a sixth option of choosing your own topic.

The most important thing to keep in mind while writing is to be yourself. Admissions Advice gives helpful tips for writing the essay. Becuase the essay has a 250 word minnimum and no maximum, this essay allows you write much more than the activity essay. Make sure to start working on the essay a few months before it’s due so you have time for revisions. You should have multiple drafts and editors. Have a few people read your essay to check for gramatical errors. Additionally, you should have someone read your essay who will be able to tell you if it sounds like your personal essay. When the essay is finished, print it one last time to check for missing commas..ect.

The Common Application

Over 300 schools in the United States accept the common application . The commn app allows you to fill out basic information on one application and submit it to numerous schools. The application consists of:

Future plans consists of predictions of your major and areas of interest.
Personal Data asks for basic contact information.
Addresses are requried as well as addresses of parents.
Family information consists of siblings ages and where your parents attended college.
Academics consists of senior year classes, college level classes taken, and schools attended.
Standardized Tests asks for your ACT and/or SAT scores. Although you will be required to officially submit them later.
Activities includes the top six activities you have participated in as well as awards won and leadership positions.
Writing requires you to write a brief statement about one of your activities as well as an essay. There are numerous essay topics to choose from.

Associated Content offers five tips for filling out the common application. You will find completing the common application is much easier than applying to each school individually. In fact, some colleges only accept the common application.

After Your Visit

The very first thing you should do after you get home from your visit is write the college a thank you note. Make sure to include something unique about the school that you liked. Some schools will put the thank you note in your file and it will be there when they are considering you for admission.

Then, you should consider whether you liked the college enough to apply. Usually, you can tell if the college is right for you after your visit. College Advice gives helpful information for choosing a college and being happy with your choice.

Visiting Colleges

When it comes time to visit colleges, you should do a few things to make the most out of your visit.

First, ask as many questions as you can think of. Your visit is your chance to find out numerous prospectives on the school. Everyone there will be willing to answer your questions.

After your info session and tour, make sure you take some time to walk around campus on your own. Talk to students walking around. Eating lunch at the college will give you an opportunity to meet students and try the food! College Wise gives tips for visiting and getting to know a college campus.

When your visit is finished, explore the city that the college is located in. You can find places where you would want to work, or simply coffee shops and restaurants to spend your time. By talking to people walking around the city, you will learn about the relationships between students and people living in the city.

Finally, write down what you liked and didn’t like about your visit. If you are visiting multiple colleges, it is easy to get characteristics mixed up and forget things.

Planning Visits to Colleges

Before visiting a college, there are a few things you can do to make your visit easier.

First, set up an info session. One of the admissions officers usually runs an info session with a few students. The admissions officer will answer questions about the admission process and the types of students who attend the college. The students will talk about student life and why they chose to attend that college.

Next, set up a tour. One of the students at the college will lead the tour and can answer any questions the students in the info session couldn’t. A tour helps you get a feel for the school and learn more about student life.

Finally, get directions to the school. Make sure you know where you’re going and what building your info session is in. Find out where you can park and if you will need to get quarters for a meter or a permit from the college. If you’re taking public transportation, find map out your route before you visit.

By taking these simple steps you won’t have to worry during your college visits. Visiting A College is a blog that offers additional information about visiting a college.

College Searching

Most high school seniors spent quite a bit of their time applying to colleges, visiting colleges, and choosing a college. The first step to take is choosing colleges to apply to. The college searching process is probably the most difficult because it requires you to consider what you will want to do the rest of their life. You must consider a number of aspects such as course difficulty, location, price, activities, popular, majors, size, student to faculty ratio, financial aid, whether they want to attend a private or public college….

There are numerous ways for you to get advice while college searching. Websites such as Princeton Review helps with chooseing a major and college. Blogs also offer valuable advice. For Example, My U lets students know what they should look for in a college. Another helpful blog is College Hunter which can guide you through the entire application process.

Even after colleges are chosen, you may change you mind after visiting them. The next, and probably most important step, is visiting colleges. It is impossible to tell if you will like a school without going there.

My First Post

This is my first post.  I am making this post to test things out.  After I make this post, I will be able to see what my blog looks like.  I will also be able to decide if I like the theme I chose for my blog.  I don’t think I like my theme.  I will also know how to link things after this post.