Every day I get calls from parents whose kids are struggling with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other challenges. The pandemic sent many teens over the cliff’s edge with the increased isolation it created. At the same time, we’ve upped the ante on performance, with kids today expected to excel in twice the number of AP courses and achieve in ever-increasingly brag worthy ways beyond the classroom.
This blog post covers common questions that help you prepare to meet with your guidance counselor to select next year’s courses. But how do you know what to choose?? Is there a magical number of AP classes? Is it better to take harder classes and get lower grades or easier classes and get higher grades? How many classes do you really have to take senior year? And is Calculus really necessary?
Getting deferred or rejected is not the news you were hoping for in this early round, but most students are going to face some rejection during this process. If you were deferred or rejected from your Early Decision school, you are now released from your binding agreement. If you were rejected, then that decision is final for this application cycle. You may not re-apply there this year. If you were deferred and are still interested in the ED school, read the deferral letter to learn what you can submit.
There isn’t any set number of hours or type of service you need to do for your college applications. What will be most impressive to a college will be consistent, long-term service. Even better is if you are using your talents and/or fulfilling a clear need in your community.
You may start to get acceptances from rolling and early action schools now. After all your hard work, that’s the best news ever! Keep track of anything required, but in general, you should hang tight even while the school sends you approximately 967 emails each day pressuring you to commit. Under no circumstance should you put down an enrollment deposit-- you can only put down an enrollment deposit at one school-- until you are certain you want to attend the school.
There's plenty to do early on in your high school career to help you prepare for college applications and admissions. From choosing the right high school courses, Whether or not to prepare for the SATs, ACTs, and AP/IB exams, What activities to engage in, Relationships with teachers and mentors, and College research.
Should I answer that optional writing question on Common App about COVID? Do I really need to write a resume? The Additional Information section confuses me-- is that for problems or for bragging? We covered all these topics and more in our twice-monthly small virtual coach group for seniors, CTK College Access. Next month we’ll be tackling how to track all those submitted applications and how to schedule and prepare for interviews.
You may be ready to take admissions tests as early as freshman or sophomore year if you have completed the math through Algebra II (including Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II) and are a strong test taker. If you are sitting for a test soon, review my test-day checklist.
Some students have acceptances already because they may have applied under a Rolling admissions deadline. Many public schools and private schools with high acceptance rates fill the class as applications come in.
