Apply Yourself

My plan for this blog was to walk you step by step through my own application process, as I was going through it. Unfortunately, I neglected to do so. Turns out, the application process is a lot to handle! Putting my full attention on my college applications was the most important thing for me to do at the time, therefor I put this blog on the back burner for a little while. But, I am now back and ready to discuss the process with everyone!

It is not too late to apply to colleges. The only reason I am finished with the process is because I decided that I wanted to apply early, and meet the Early Action deadlines. I found that this was helpful for me because I get stressed extremely easily, and I just wanted to knock this out and get it over with. But if you have not applied yet, don't worry! You can still apply to colleges and get your results around April.

The first thing that you need to know when going into applications is that you need to put all of your efforts into it. Unless you went to an interview held by the school itself, this application is the only thing that the school knows you as. So put everything that could boost your chances of getting in, whether you think it's important or not. Every little detail will help, and you can't afford to forget any information.

Next, make sure you have your parents, your guidance counselor, your teachers, and maybe even some friends help you out on your application. All of these people want you to succeed, and they probably can mention some helpful suggestions that could make your application stand out. College applications are not something you want to do by yourself. It can be difficult translating yourself on paper, or online, without these people having a clue who you are, so enlist some people you trust to help.

Make sure you have at least three teacher recommendation letters for your application. It's best to ask a different variety of teachers. For example, ask a core teacher (math, science, social studies, english), an extracurricular teacher, and someone who has seen you grow as either a student, a person, or both. This give you a fuller appearance and make you more desirable. If the teacher is saying the same thing as the others did, it could come across as "cookie-cutter" or boring.

My last advice would be to not worry. This is a stressful time, but try not to let that get to your head. When worried, I tend to mess up and forget things, which is something that you certainly do not want to come across on your application. It should be a true reflection of who you are and who you want to be, not a reflection of your stress during the application process. As hard and frustrating as it can be, the relief when you finish is the best reward you can receive, apart from, of course, an acceptance.

I have excitedly been rewarded with an acceptance already into my second choice school, George Mason University. I cannot explain the relief it is to get your first acceptance letter. No matter if I get accepted into the other schools, just knowing that I have a place where I can go and study felt like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I am still anxiously awaiting my acceptance into Christopher Newport, which should (hopefully) get to me sometime this month.

Apply yourself to your application and you should be proud of yourself when you finish.

Hopefully this was helpful, and good luck on all of your applications!

xoxo, Jordan