Hear about Kaetlyn's Lessons Learned

The college application season is finally coming to a close, and I, along with every

other high school senior, am leaping for joy. I learned many lessons on this journey

and I want to share them with you in hopes that you can avoid some of the mistakes

I made.

1. Interview dates vary. A lot. I was always told that colleges will contact you

about interviews once you have submitted an application. Though this is often the

case, there are some exceptions to the rule. Some colleges, such as MIT, require you

to schedule interview dates far before your application is due. Be sure to research

whether a school recommends interviews, and if so, the deadline by which you must

have your interview completed.

2. Arts supplement dates vary too. For those of you who are artistically inclined

and are planning on submitting an arts supplement, pay attention to arts

supplement deadlines. Often, it aligns with the deadline of the school application,

however this is not always the case! Stanford, for example, requires that you submit

your Arts Supplement, along with your entire application, a month before the

regular deadline. I discovered this just 48 hours before the arts supplement and

application were due and learned a hard lesson. I cannot stress this one enough. Pay

attention to deadlines.

3. Arts supplement requirements. Different schools ask for different

requirements, so be sure to pay attention to the specifics of each school. I chose to

submit a music supplement—some schools allowed audio, while others only

permitted video. The length, type, and number of supplements allowed also varies

depending upon the school; in my case, for example, some requested jazz and

classical pieces, while others had no preference.

4. School requirements. At some schools, such as Brown University, you will find

that certain intended majors require additional essays. I found, for example, that

engineering programs often require additional essays. Just keep this in mind so that

you can manage your time well.

5. Essays. As you know, the Common App is released on August 1 each year. At this

time, you are able to access all essay questions, however, with the use of Guided

Path, you can sometimes access supplemental questions before August 1. I highly

recommend that you take the time to look for supplemental essay questions and get

a start on them during the summer. Even jotting down a few ideas will make the

process go faster. I completed my Common Application essay and got a start on two

supplements during summer break, and it made the application process much

easier. I strongly recommend getting a head start, because once school starts, it is

difficult to balance applications and school.

6. Test dates. Each school has a date before which you must complete the SAT, ACT,

and/or SAT Subject Tests. Just be sure to complete your tests by the early fall, or

better yet, the end of junior year, and you will be set.

There are many tools in Guided Path that are very helpful in the application process.

Using them will work to your advantage, I promise.

Activity Record. Guided Path’s Activity Record can be found under the surveys tab.

This survey is extremely useful, as the Common Application asks you to fill out up to

10 activities and briefly explain them. This will help you to gather your thoughts

before putting them into the Common App. Additionally, by logging your extra

curricular activities in the activity record, you will be able to see the distribution of

your activities—Do you have a wide variety of activities, or are they generally all in

one category? Finally, logging activities in the Activity Record will provide ideas for

essays. Many colleges ask for you to elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work

experience, and the Activity Record is a great place to start.

Course Plan. The course plan is a helpful survey simply because it organizes your

classes and helps you to keep track of what courses you have taken, and which you

still need to take. The ability to enter your grades makes this survey act essentially

like a record of your transcript.

Getting 2 Know U. Coming up with something to write about for the Common

Application was particularly challenging for me, as the prompts are very broad. The

Getting 2 Know U survey gets your brain rolling and ideas flowing. Any question

within this survey is a great place to start when trying to write your Common

Application essay.

Design A College. I find the Design a College survey most useful in organizing my

thoughts. For me, after visiting ten colleges I became unsure as to why I liked a

college. I simply had a general feeling for each school. This survey helped me to

focus on the specifics of a college, and gave me a general idea of my ideal college.

This survey can be used both as a starting point when creating a college list, as well

as a reminder when all of your potential schools begin to blur together.

I hope that these tips were helpful and aid you in your college application process.

Best of luck!