As summer winds down and the school year begins again, there are a plethora of announcements, reviews, and reminders from College Advising to ensure our seniors stay on track throughout their college search process. Our two college advisors, Ms. Christine Holladay and Ms. Annie McKenzie, opened up the school year with a presentation from College Advising reviewing and highlighting important information and reminders for the class of 2022.

Among these important reminders were the following: adding colleges to the Common Application because after adding colleges, we can see deadlines, supplemental essays prompts, and any other requirements (recommendation letters, resumes, etc.). In addition to this,  students were reminded to start on their common application sections (education, activities, honors) early and ask their college advisor for feedback on these sections. 

Another key component in an application are letters of recommendation. There is a Google form on canvas under the college advising module where seniors fill out and submit a request for teachers’ recommendations, and our college advisers recommend requesting a letter from two teachers who you have established a solid relationship with and know you and your strengths well. 

Finally, it is highly recommended that seniors begin to finish the rough drafts of their college essays and share them with their college advisor as soon as possible in order to receive revisions and feedback on vital components of their essays, including: their writing structure, grammar, themes, and ideas.

Wow, fall of senior year has a jam-packed college checklist! If students start feeling overwhelmed, they are advised to schedule a meeting with their advisor in order to talk about what all they have accomplished, what still needs to be done, how and when to complete everything. Ms. McKenzie has a word of advice for knocking everything off the list.

“The key to your college planning to-do list is to stay organized, whether you have a Google doc with your college list, extracurriculars/activities list, and college essay, or you have a Google spreadsheet with all of your colleges, deadlines, supplemental essay prompts, etc.,” she said. “It’s important to find a system that works for you so that you can stay on top of the college application process.”

If you are a student who has fallen behind in their college process, Ms. Holladay had some words of advice as well for the best place to start.

“Seniors should first and foremost be communicating with their college advisor. Each person’s process is a little different and so if someone wants to know what their next step should be, their advisor can provide that clarity. After that – all seniors should be ensuring that their recommendation letter requests are getting completed, that they’ve shared their college application essay, and that they’re making progress on completing the Common Application. We also have some folks who need to connect with their parents/guardians to complete the transcript release form and family input form.” she said.

Overall, it is important for seniors this time of year to stay calm, stay organized, and stay in communication with their college advisor, and balance excitement for this new chapter in their lives while finding time to soak in and enjoy their last year at the academy.