Every year, millions of high school seniors face the tedious task of drafting the perfect college application. The stress of your future relying on that application can negatively affect your performance when applying. But, what if I told you that a few strategic tips could significantly relieve that pressure? I spoke with one of Helix’s College & Career Counselors, Gillian Morgan, to provide some insight on what students can do to make their college applications as painless as possible.
Basics of Applying
So, when should you start applying for colleges? Applications for four-year colleges open in August, while California State Universities open their applications in October. You’ll have to make an account and provide the school with personal information as well as your academic history.
Schools will often require you to complete a writing portion, which can vary from short answer questions to an essay. After completing the following, you’ll turn in your application to Helix to get it reviewed. Once you complete your corrections and receive approval, you’re ready to submit your application!
For CSU’s and UC’s, applications are usually due around November 30th.
Be Yourself
When applying to colleges, the main idea is to be authentically you. Students have asked Morgan if using ChatGPT or AI is acceptable when writing applications, and the answer is no.
Colleges want to get an idea of who you are and what you’ll bring to the school. You should be bragging about yourself! You’ve achieved a lot during the past four years, why not boast about it? Using secondary sources will mask your identity and can sound like every other student that’s applying; which in the end, becomes less appealing to college admissions. Some schools will also put the essays through a detector; so using those sources for a college application wouldn’t be the smartest idea.
Get your Applications Checked!
An additional detail Morgan stressed was to get your applications checked by Helix. Helix checks your application for errors so colleges don’t reject your application. Morgan emphasized, “we see so many errors that make it so you might not be able to get into the college” of your choosing, “not because you couldn’t get in, but because of the error.” So please, get your applications checked.
Make sure to set goals for yourself as well. Morgan mentioned, “your applications will be due at different deadlines, but setting yourself smaller deadlines, so you could do it in chunks instead of trying to do it all at the same time,” which will help to reduce stress and make sure your applications are turned in on time.
Key Point: Helix is a semester school
Another big thing that Morgan highlighted was to make sure you register Helix as a semester school! She added “if you put that we’re a quarter school, you’ll get denied from all schools, because you wont have met all of the A-G requirements.”
What do you want FROM college?
She ended our interview with one last major idea: What schools do YOU want to go to? Before registering for colleges, make sure it’s a school that you even want to go to. Whether it be for their majors, the campus/campus location, or even the sports teams and clubs they offer, make sure that there’s something there for you. Oftentimes, students think to themselves “will they accept me? But it’s like, no, what do you want from college?” Ultimately, you’re going to decide where you want to go based on the colleges that do accept you. So might as well make sure you love every choice you’re given.
And don’t be afraid to make backup plans! You might not get accepted into your favorite school, and that’s perfectly okay. But what’s your plan if you don’t? There’s so many opportunities for you to explore in the world. Just make sure that whatever happens, you’re still prepared for YOUR life after high school.
Final Thoughts
Essentially, you’re the one going to college. You have to take accountability for your future, but it doesn’t have to be so stressful. Hopefully you’ll take into consideration the guide that we’ve constructed to not only improve your chances of getting into colleges, but also make the process more manageable.
