Ready to start your college essay?
We're here to help.
Your second to last chance to take the SAT before the end of the school year is this Saturday and you are prepared. In fact, you may be SO prepared for the SAT that it’s all you’ve been thinking about. Well, that and season 2 of Dark. But after you color in that final circle, you may feel the standard bout of end-of-year ennui setting in. The major exams are over. You’re watching a movie in almost every class. How can you prevent yourself from slipping into a deep mental sleep until summer? You jump on some exciting opportunities to move your college application forward! Believe it or not, there’s more you can do now that just taking tests.
The Common App is going to ask you for a description of up to 10 of your most important activities, from clubs to volunteering, and many schools will also give you the opportunity to submit an extended resume with a more detailed description of each activity. Now is a great time to begin to compile this list in a way that you can easily transfer to the Common App and expand on for specific schools. Information you’ll definitely want to note includes: (1) the grades in which you did each activity, (2) hours per week, (3) weeks per year, (4) key accomplishments and responsibilities you fulfilled. The Common App has already made this section available to this year’s applicants, so you can even start filling in the real thing! That said, we recommend laying everything out in a separate document first, since it’s easier to make edits and tweaks on Word than on the Common App platform.
You may be the most memorable person alive, but that doesn’t mean your teachers won’t actively try to forget you during their three month break this summer. Start talking to potential recommenders now as a way to strengthen your relationship going into the summer. Plus, asking them now will give them plenty of time to write you a nice and detailed letter while they still remember your junior year accomplishments.
Okay, so not everyone has time to drive five hours or hop on a plane for a weekend jaunt to their dream school. Now is still a great time to get used to the process of touring campuses and gathering information. Do you live close to a college, any college? Consider hopping on a tour one Saturday morning just to see what it’s like. Or, if you’d prefer to start the process from the comfort of your couch, spend some quality time on the websites of schools that interest you. You prooooobably already know how to use the internet, but in case you need a little help starting your virtual tour, we made you a video tutorial.
The two major application platforms for this year (the Common App and the Coalition) have already released their essay prompts. So, read them over, read our guides, and then put them away. It’s advantageous to familiarize yourself with the kinds of questions you will need to answer, but no need to marry yourself to a particular prompt right now. Get excited for all of the experiences you’re going to have over the summer. Almost any story you want to tell has a perfect prompt match.
Prep yourself for the essay-writing process in the best way we can think of: by binge watching College Essay Academy. You’re already watching a movie in every class, why not fill your brain with everything you need to know about the college essay plus a few random cat jokes?
