Want to know the best way to increase your chances of admission to your top choice colleges? Start planning early!
Many families don’t start planning for college until junior year of high school. However, by then many students have missed valuable time to develop strong transcripts, build teacher rapport, explore different types of interests, or take challenging course paths (since many of these begin in middle school or ninth grade).
Starting to think about college freshman year of high school – or even during middle school – students can set themselves up for a rewarding high school career and a successful college admissions process.
The number one college prep tip that everyone can agree on is the importance of planning early. But this can be a double-edged sword for some students and families. We do not want to put too much college pressure on students because they already have a lot of pressure as it is!
Planning for college during freshman year shouldn’t include standardized test practice sections every night before bed or making them decide on their future career at 14 years old. College prep in middle school and ninth grade should be simple and transition students into the rigor of balancing their work, extracurricular activities, and standardized test prep down the road.
Some key ideas to assist with this transition are:
Select challenging courses
Build rapport with their peers and teachers
Explore different interests and activities
Focus on receiving strong grades
Do What You Love and Be Who You Are: Colleges Want Genuine Applicants As you learn more about yourself, pursue those interests that really matter to YOU. In the end, colleges don’t want cookie-cutter applicants who are just doing things that make them “look good” on paper. Colleges want unique candidates, but they want that unique aspect to be a genuine interest. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not, or pretend to be someone who the college wants to have on their campus!
By ensuring that students are exploring their interests and finding the right path for them, they can try to avoid some unnecessary stress in the future because they will have a solid foundation that can be built upon as they continue their college preparation throughout high school. | |