An overview to choosing and applying to colleges By Ada
For many juniors and seniors, the end of high school means looking forward to graduation and transitioning into college. Before that becomes a reality, many students have to navigate the stressful and uncertain process of deciding which schools to apply to and applying.
1. Choosing the Right College There are many different aspects of college in which students can use to decide which college to apply to and attend. Here is a list of some factors and questions that associated with them: ● Major: Does the school provide the major you want to study? ● Location/Proximity: Where is the school? Is it too close to or too far from home? ● Size: Is the student population large, medium, or small? ● Campus Environment/Life: Do you like the campus environment? How is the greek life (if you want to join)? What clubs, sports, or volunteering opportunities are there? ● Cost/Financial Aid: What is the tuition and associated fees? Will the school provide adequate financial aid? ● Resources: Does the school provide academic counseling? Is there tutoring? What resources are there for underprivileged students, international students, etc.? Do they provide networking opportunities? * If there is a chance to go visit the schools you are considering, go for it! Being on campus can give you a very different perspective on the school and can be very helpful in making the final decision. That’s how I decided to go to UCLA, after visiting the campus!
2. Applications Students don’t have to fill out a separate application for each school they apply to, there are a few common application portals that schools use. For many California students, those are the CSU application, UC applications, and the Common App. ● CSU: You can apply to all 23 CSU through their application. Their application is fairly straightforward; you only have to fill in your information, grades, extracurriculars, and select the schools you want to apply for and there’s no essay portion. ○ Link to application: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply ● UC: The UC application allows for students to apply to all 9 undergraduate UCs. The application includes personal information, grades, extracurriculars, and responses to 4 personal insight questions. ○ Link to application: https://apply.universityofcalifornia.edu/my-application/login ● Common App: The Common App lets you apply to many private universities. You will need to fill in the general application with your information, grades, extracurriculars, and your personal statement. However, each university you are applying to can also request additional supplemental essays and information. ○ Link to application: https://www.commonapp.org/ * Some schools have their own applications and you may also receive invitational applications from schools (which may be easier to complete). * It is also very important to be mindful of due dates when completing the application. Different schools will have different due dates for the entire application and sometimes even different documents. * There is usually an application fee associated with submitting the application. However, there are fee waivers for those with financial need for all the different applications portals. If you do not qualify, you can reach out to the specific schools to see if they provide assistance.
3. Writing Personal Statement Personal statements are a very important, and probably the most stressful, part of the college application process. It gives you a chance to elaborate on experiences that you want to share and allows for the schools to know you better as a person. Here are some tips in approaching the writing process: ● Start early: Look at the prompts early on and think about ones you can provide an elaborate answer to. You don’t have to start immediately; give yourself some time to think about your answers. ● Reuse your writing: Prompts across different application portals may be similar. You can reuse your writings and make edits to answer the specific prompts. It also helps with making your writing better because you might think of new ideas about how to address the overall prompt. ● Be concise and answer the prompt: Personal statements have word limits, but in many cases, it’s not enough for you to elaborate on what you want to share. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the important details and stick to the prompt. Be truthful though! ● Editing: Always have others read through your writing to see if they can figure out what prompt you are answering, if you answered in enough detail or too much detail, and find grammatical/spelling errors. See if the person reading your learned something new about you or did they gain confidence in the person they know you to be. Looking for the right schools and applying for them are very stressful processes. However, there are always people who are willing to help you through these times and it is completely possible to accomplish. Remember that you can rely on your friends and teachers to help edit and see if there are other resources at your schools that can provide assistance. Good Luck!!
How to create a college list by Fayez
● Safety, Target and Reach Schools ● Aim to apply for around 12 schools. ● Each school on your list will fall under one of the following three categories: ● Safety (at least 3): This is a school where your scores (GPA, Standardized tests etc..) fall well above the 50th percentile of accepted students. That means there is a pretty good chance that you will get accepted, almost a “guarantee”. It is important to have a few of these schools on your list so that you have a safety net ● Target (around 5): This is a school where your scores fall right at the 50th percentile of accepted students. There is a decent chance of acceptance based on scores, but other factors such as extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and personal statement come into play. These are schools you should aim to get into. ● Reach (around 4): This is a school where your scores fall below the 50th percentile of accepted students. As the name implies, you need to “reach” in order to get in because your scores will be below the middle 50%, these colleges will consider extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, personal statements, and awards more heavily. ● Important Factors to consider when choosing colleges to apply to: ● Location ● Cost/financial aid ● Academic rigor/prestige/Competitiveness ● Emphasis on sports, music, etc... ● Environment (urban, rural, suburban) ● Weather and Campus
● College Search Tools: Use these tools to help you put together a college list to start ● Big Future College Search – Use this tool to look for schools for your statistics/wants ● Colleges That Change Lives – use this list to find schools that offer great campus support/opportunities ● I’m First – use this list to find schools who pay extra attention to first generation students ● Great financial aid – Use this to find schools with great financial aid
Choosing a major by Julia
I’m gonna start off by saying that you are under no pressure to keep whatever major you choose. Once you get to college, you have plenty of time to change your major, add another major, add two minors, whatever you’d like! However, there are things that you should consider.
1. Try to at least choose a school that you want to stay in regardless of what specific major you’re doing. So for example, at UCLA, we have majors as the smallest academic division, then departments/divisions, schools, and then UCLA as a whole. For each of my majors, I am in:
Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology (MCDB)
School: College of Letters and Science
Division: Physical Sciences
Major: Dance
Department: World Arts and Cultures/Dance
School: School of Arts and Architecture
While it’s not impossible, it can be more difficult to switch between schools. Usually, you have to do another application. When I added the dance major, I had to reapply and audition. There would also be an additional application if you were trying to transfer into the School of Engineering, but if you had one major in the College of Letters and Science and wanted to add/change to another major within that college, it would be easier.
1. Don’t just choose something that you think has a cool name. That’s how I chose my MCDB major and luckily things worked out and I love it. But it’s not a strategy that I recommend. Instead, look up the major at the university you’re attending. Choose a major with courses that you are interested in. You can find course descriptions in the university’s course registrar.
2. For my fellow pre-meds out there: it’s okay to not major in something science-y. If that is what you want to do, that’s great! But you can totally go into medicine majoring in something totally different as long as you still show an investment in healthcare in your application. Medicine needs people who know science really well, but they also need people who know sociology and business and computer science and even the arts. Don’t let your career goals limit what you study.