Senior Year Fall - Almost There!
John Zhou
Harvard
National Scholar Award Recipient
Gentle breezes carry a barbecued scent that wafts over the leaves accumulating on the sidewalk. Indeed, fall, and the start of a new school year, has arrived. But of course this school year is unlike any other for it is your senior year of high school. Senior year brings with it the fond recollections of high school, the added visibility of being the school leader, and… college applications! Let's talk about how you can best use your senior year fall to both have a great time and best prepare yourself to get in the school of your dreams.
First, you should be researching the schools that you play to apply to and making a final list that contains the deadline dates. Consider factors such as financial aid /tuition, size of school, and geographic location as you investigate various institutions. Make sure to create a comprehensive list so that you include schools that you are pretty sure of getting admitted to (commonly noted as safety schools) and other schools that are more difficult to gain entrance (commonly noted as reaches). As you research the schools, you will undoubtedly have many questions, so starting early gives you the chance to ask questions by phoning the school, asking your counselors, or attending information sessions that colleges host in your local area. Additionally, as you decide on which schools to apply to, go ahead and take a look at the applications. Many schools now use the Common Application, so make sure to familiarize yourself with that tool.
A brief survey of the applications for various colleges will also impress on you the importance of getting strong letters of recommendation and writing a polished essay. With respect to the two recommendation letters that colleges generally look for, make sure to ask people who actually know you to write the letters. These individuals will be able to talk about you as a person and not as just a generic reference. Also, be sure to ask for the letters much earlier (at least a month in advance) of when you need them. After all, it is highly likely that your recommender is swamped with requests from many other students.
Part of your senior year fall should be devoted to your college essay(s) as well. Hopefully you have already started writing or have some idea of what you want to write about. Below are a selection of topics from the Common Application, which should give you an idea of the sort of essay prompts that many other seniors address:
- Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
- Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
- Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
- Describe a character in fiction, an historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
- A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, 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.
The essay is an important part of the college application process because it allows you to express yourself in a way that your classes, grades, and awards cannot cover. As such, be creative and have fun with the essay. When you have a rough draft, also ask people who you trust to be constructively critical to read your essay over. Give the colleges a polished piece of writing that best exemplifies you.
Finally, as you prepare for colleges, take the extra effort to create a succinct résumé for yourself. Many colleges will ask for information on your classes, awards, and activities; having one integrated document greatly facilitates your work. Creating such a profile will also aid you in the search for scholarships since many scholarship applications require the same information.
Most of the advice given above has been about what you should do specifically for the college application process, which is undoubtedly an integral part of your senior year fall. Nonetheless, you shouldn't neglect your other commitments. Keep doing well in all of your classes and putting forth your best effort in extracurriculars. And, of course, enjoy your senior year! The fall will go by sooner than you can possibly imagine and before you know it, you'll have a college acceptance letter in your hands. Good luck!