What are some tips on how to apply to colleges in a way that will make it less stressful?Answered
This fall, I will be a high school senior, and I plan on going to a 4 year university. I will be a first-gen college student in my family. The college application process is extremely new to me and I am unsure of how to go about applications without doubting myself or stressing out too much. I also don't really understand the basics of applications.
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3 answers
To make it the least stressful, I would suggest doing lots of research about the schools you would like to go to. On the websites for each school look into whether or not they are part of the common app and when their application deadlines are. I would also suggest going to Youtube and other resources to look at what tips other people have when it comes to apply to some schools (ex. "What I wish I had known when applying to X University").
When it comes to applications, there is the common app or the university's own application. The common app was basically designed so that a student doesn't have to write a bunch of different essays for every school they apply to, instead they only have to write a few essays and they can send that to multiple schools. Other universities require a student to fill out a unique application with its own essay prompts. In order to reduce the stress of the application process, it would be a good idea to start early on the essays so that it doesn't become a last minute thing.
Hello! There are a lot of programs that offers free guidance for first gen students. I am part of multiple programs that offer free guidance but I would recommend Matriculate for you. You can learn more at this website: https://www.matriculate.org/college. Hope this helps!
Hi! I'm also a first gen student in my sophomore year of college, and I'm not gonna lie the application process is tough. I got lucky because my teachers at my highschool helped a lot (since they went to the same local colleges I was applying to). The biggest thing that helped me though was I signed up for seminars that the colleges I was interested in hosted. I'm not sure if this is a thing where you're located, but the one's around me would host sessions where they went over parts of campus,
classes, clubs and sports, etc. and when it was over they would give prospective students a free aplication and they would walk you through it step by step. There were also a lot of videos online that helped interpret apllications like that. I completely understand how hard it is to try to interpret things by yourself, especially when your parents are just as confused as you are when you show them, so try not to hesitate to ask people who do know.
Applications will all typically ask for the same things: your name, address, other basic info, a copy of your high school transcripts, test scores (AP, SAT, ACT), clubs and sports you were involved in, and other things from high school. Some will require an essay and/or letters of reccomendation. Mine didn't require those so I wouldn't be much help there, but there is tons of help with just a quick google search. I hope this helped though, let me know if you have any more questions!
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This is so extremely helpful! Thank you so much