The Most Valuable Advice For College-Bound Students

College-bound juniors should ask their senior year high school friends what’s the single most valuable piece of advice they have for completing the college application and financial aid processes. The advice given will help juniors prepare for next year’s college application process and should improve their chances for getting accepted to their colleges of choice and to earn the maximum amount of scholarship money.

If juniors were to list the 10 most popular pieces of advice given by seniors (with the most popular listed first), the list would be as follows:

1. “Start the application process early.”

2. “Apply early.”

3. “Start planning for next year now.”

4. “Start early. The process is way more difficult than you think!”

5. “You can’t begin the process too soon.”

6. “Don’t wait to the last minute like I did! Research colleges and majors this spring. Plan to visit college campuses during spring break and early summer. Research scholarships to apply to next year. Write your résumé now and keep it updated. Don’t wait, DON’T wait, DON’T WAIT!”

7. “If you wait until next fall, your senior year will be EXTREMELY stressful. Begin now and take the pressure off of you and your parents.”

8. “If you don’t take action early, thousands of other students will be ahead of you and just might take the opening at your favorite college that should have been yours.”

9. “Get the best grades you can. Good grades will get you accepted to the colleges you want and will get you scholarships. Grades are everything . . . oh, and take challenging classes. College admission officers like when you take the tough classes.”

10. “Get your parents to help you with the process. There’s way too much to do by yourself!”

This year’s college-bound juniors who revisit the above list in February 2011 will read it and agree. They will either say, “I’m so glad I listened to this advice and started the process early; I got accepted to almost every college I applied to and did it without a crazy amount of stress” or they will say, “If only I would have listened maybe my senior year wouldn’t have been so stressful and I would have had time to complete great applications, write outstanding essays, and maybe get accepted to my top choice colleges.”

Juniors, heed this advice, start early and be the student that says the former.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org.

Make Things Difficult: Advice for Juniors and Sophomores

In the days ahead, junior and sophomore high school students will be choosing their classes for next year. These classes should include both the courses required for high school graduation AND the courses recommended to achieve admission to top colleges and universities. The courses recommended to achieve admission include the most challenging / difficult ones, such as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Honors and college-prep courses.

I make this recommendation because the difficulty of a student’s curriculum (how hard their classes are) is one of the most important factors evaluated by college admission officers when considering students for admission. For this reason, students should sign up for the most challenging curriculum they can handle and work hard to earn A’s. Students should ask themselves, “When college admission officers look at my schedule of classes, will they see challenging courses that demonstrate I am preparing for the rigors of college-level coursework, or will they see a list of classes that show I don’t want to challenge myself?”

However, students should keep in mind not to overextend themselves to the point where they may become exhausted. If a student registers for a ridiculously difficult schedule of classes, he/she may burn out and end up earning only mediocre grades. My advice for juniors and sophomores is to plan accordingly and sign up for the most challenging curriculum YOU can handle.

In summary, students who take advanced courses and challenge themselves are viewed very favorably by college admission officers and are considered the stronger college applicants. Junior-year courses are evaluated most carefully by admission officers because those courses are the highest level completed at the time college applications are submitted in the fall of the senior year. Senior-year coursework is important because most colleges ask for a listing of the classes taken during the senior year, as well as the grades earned during the fall semester of the senior year.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org.

Don’t Ruin Your Chances For College By Being Stupid

Bad behavior and laziness can ruin students’ chances for attending a four-year college or university. All the great grades, excellent test scores, leadership positions, years of community service, school and extracurricular activities won’t matter to college admission officers if a senior-year student slacks off and shows a significant drop in grades or has an incident displaying threatening behavior or discipline problems.

High school seniors who already have been accepted to their colleges can have offers of acceptance revoked when word of poor final grades or behavior problems reach their colleges (acceptance letters from colleges are “conditional” contracts in which they can change their decisions from “accept” to “reject” whenever they wish). A developing trend in college admissions is to closely evaluate indications of trouble in students’ history.

According to the 2009 State of College Admission (National Association for College Admission Counseling, September 2009, p.7), 21 percent of colleges reported they revoked offers of admission during the fall 2008 semester/quarter. When asked how likely student actions were to result in the retraction of an offer, colleges cited a drop in final grades (65 percent) as the number one reason for retraction, followed by disciplinary issues (35 percent) and falsification of application information (29 percent). Public colleges were more likely to revoke admission due to final grades whereas private colleges were more likely to revoke offers of admission for disciplinary reasons.

My advice? Don’t be stupid and make a wrong decision that may ruin your chance for enrolling in college. Be smart, keep up your grades and think before participating in any “questionable” activity. You have too much to lose.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org.

How to Start Being a Leader Today

MyCollegeCalendar.org’s last blog post gave encouragement to high school students who aspire to immediately attend a four-year institution after graduation. Steve Sterling noted that large scholarships (merit-based with need-based also on the way) and financial aid are being offered. In addition, he said private universities are carrying out substantial recruitment efforts. His message was encouraging but he also warned students to be ready to position themselves for offers by achieving top grades, participating in extracurricular activities, and taking on leadership roles.

Colleges Look for Leaders
Colleges desire to recruit students who have demonstrated leadership abilities because it is an excellent indicator of what they can expect from them in the classroom, on campus, and as alumni. For example, while universities want to prepare finance majors for financial jobs, it speaks volumes for their reputation when an alumnus becomes a respected and accomplished leader in the financial field. In addition, leadership qualities show your desire to accomplish goals. Colleges do their best to select those who show the most promise, think of it as choosing which cards to keep in your hand. Proof of leadership makes you a higher card and gives colleges better odds. So if leadership qualities are highly sought after by college recruiters and employers, the question is -- how can you become a leader now?

What is a Leader?
Let’s explore what a leader is. Leaders are people who get things done. They not only achieve things but they create pathways for others to succeed as well. Leaders encourage, inspire, and motivate. Effective leaders are focused and find ways to accomplish their goals. True leaders have integrity and the respect of others. Without this they cannot lead. First, though, leadership begins with passion.

How Can a High School Student Show Leadership?
We often tend to think of leaders as people who are “born that way.” They’re just really confident people, right? So if you weren’t born a leader, how can you become one now? Look to the last line of the last paragraph: “Leadership begins with passion.” What are you passionate about? Basketball? Math? Technology? Literature? Art? Helping others? Use your passion as a motivator to take on leadership roles. If you love it, you’re probably good at it (and vice versa), so there’s your confidence! Who cares if you’re not interested or suited for student government! It’s not the only leadership role available to you as a high school student. Join or start a club. Show your leadership qualities on an athletic team. Join or organize volunteering and fundraising activities. Volunteer for your favorite cause. Take a part-time job in your intended career area. Audition for the school play. If you love drama and don’t win an on-stage part, volunteer to be part of the production. Be involved however you can, take your passion and find a way to do something with it! It’s the first step in becoming a leader and you’ll have fun because you’ll love what you’re doing. Remember, leaders motivate others, but they must first motivate themselves. Leaders are do-ers, not watchers.

Develop Leadership Skills and Open Your Options
Once you take your passion and do something with it you will find the more dedicated you are the faster you’ll grow into your leadership role. You will start to envision new ways to do things and inspire those around you to move in new directions. It all happens step-by-step and is absolutely possible even though you’re “only in high school.” Start developing your leadership skills today and you’ll have better options for college. Use your leadership skills in college and you’ll have better options for careers after graduation. Be a leader in your industry and craft a lifestyle that has wonderful benefits and a career you enjoy. It’s all possible when you take your passions to the next level!

Lynn Mattoon, Content Editor & Career Writer for CollegeJobBank.com, FinancialJobBank.com, and other Beyond.com Career Communities

Recession? What Recession?

With the current economic recession griping the country, many people have predicted dramatic changes in the world of college admissions. After all, numerous colleges and universities have taken drastic steps to reduce their expenditures, including the laying off of professors and cutting the number of courses offered, and have raised their tuition for next year. Last fall, the majority of parents and students I spoke with thought this year’s crop of college-bound students would shy away from attending at four-year colleges and universities in order to save money and, instead, would enroll in the community college system. Others predicted many college-bound students would postpone their college aspirations a year or two, seeking employment in the short term.

Additionally, most people foresaw drastic reductions in offers of financial aid from colleges and universities due to shrinking institution endowments and loss of value in assets.

I’m here to tell you this isn’t the case. A recent article published by examiner.com tells of huge increases in the number of college applications received from students wishing to enroll at four-year institutions in fall 2010. For example, the number of applications received by the University of Chicago, California State University system, University of Hawaii Manoa, Brown University and Princeton University are up by 42, 28, 25, 20, and 19 percent, respectively. In addition, according to examiner.com, “double-digit increases in applications are being reported all over the country.”

Furthermore, private universities are continuing to give large scholarships. Student applicants I have asked for information about their success with college admissions have not only been accepted to multiple universities, but have received merit-based scholarship offers ranging from $88,000 over four years (New York University) to $50,000 over four years (California Lutheran University). In fact, most private schools have made substantial “recruitment” offers of financial aid to the early applicants with whom I spoke. For many of these students, more “free money” will be awarded this coming spring in the form of need-based scholarships and grants.

The moral of this story is one of encouragement. High school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors need to get their “A-Game” on and earn top grades, be active in extracurricular activities, take leadership roles in organizations, and demonstrate a dedication to academics, school and community. Those that do will reap the benefits of their hard work when it’s time for them to apply for college.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org.