I have almost reached the end of my senior year, and, as I look back over the past four years, I can see quite clearly the things that I did right, as well as the mistakes that I made, throughout the college-preparation process. My last two decision letters will arrive by the end of the first week of April, but I have already made up my mind. And, with the completion of one more scholarship essay, the long college search and application process will be over for me. So, here are 10 tips for those preparing for that process. If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail them to TCPEditor@pottersschool.org.

• Start visiting schools early. I definitely felt awkward when my parents had me start touring schools when I was still a freshman. But I quickly came to realize the importance of looking at schools early. This approach is especially key if you want to look at a lot of schools, or if you are considering out-of-state schools. If you are in the general vicinity, do not pass up an opportunity to look at schools that draw your interest.
• Keep a transcript throughout high school. It really is not difficult to record all of your grades in a central location as you go through high-school. However, it would be significantly harder to go back at the beginning of your senior year and try to figure them out semester by semester. So, at the very least, keep track of your grades.
• Compile course descriptions. It may be unfair, but, because you are a homeschooler, many colleges are going to want to see course descriptions to verify your transcript. If you save all of those descriptions (including books used for the courses) as you go through high-school, it will be significantly easier for you to put them all together for the schools that want descriptions.
• Keep a book list. Just keep track of all of the books that you read throughout high school. You may never need this, but some colleges want to see it. Besides, it urges you to read more so that you have a longer list, and reading more is always a good thing.
• Create spreadsheets of your activities. Colleges are going to want to know all of your high-school activities—academic, volunteer, extracurricular, and even employment. So, save yourself some trouble. Compile spreadsheets for these. Include the name of the activity, which years you were involved, how many hours it consumed (on a monthly or weekly basis), and a short description of the activity. I cannot even tell you how much this helped me. I needed different formats for each school and scholarship application, but it was easy when I had it all laid out in spreadsheet format.
• Get things done early. It was not a lot of fun to start my applications in late August. But it was awesome to have them done by mid-October. Starting early made my life a lot easier. It is especially important to ask for recommendations early. Teachers often get swamped with these requests when the application deadlines start approaching. So, you can make things easier for them, as well as for yourself. Plus, if you forget to send something into the school, or if you need to correct something, getting done early gives you a buffer.
• Take standardized exams. Consider AP exams, SAT subject tests, and CLEP exams. You can get credit for some of those exams at most schools. At the very least, they validate your grades, which is often important for a home-schooled applicant.
• Think carefully about early decision. Early decision is a binding agreement (early action, however, is not binding). You cannot get out of it if you change your mind later. So, if you intend to apply early decision, sleep on it, and wait until you are absolutely sure that you are choosing the school that you definitely want to attend.
• Apply for quite a few scholarships. You probably will not get them all. But, if you apply for many, you are much more likely to get some. I know The Cracked Pot has previously contained articles on scholarship opportunities. Check out past issues for an idea of where to start looking.
• Analyze everything about potential schools. So, you have finished all of your applications, and you expect to start hearing back from schools soon. Where will you be next year? Well, keep in mind that you are deciding where you will live and study for the next four years. Four years is a pretty long time. So, analyze the schools. How is their academic program? What is their campus like? Are you comfortable there? Can you see yourself living there for four years? These are important questions as you try to your decision. And listen to your parents. The final decision is yours, but they have a lot of insight. Pay attention.

Print       E-mail      

YouTube meets "Turkishness" and Article 301 10 College-Admissions Tips The Play is the Thing, Or It Was He Came for Me