As a junior going into the summer before your senior year, it can start to feel really stressful, especially near the beginning of the start of the school year. As a senior who has already been through the whole process and is now getting ready to leave Stone Ridge, you have the choice to make the fall of your senior year a whole lot less stressful. By preparing yourself and doing work ahead of time, you will save a whole lot of time and energy during this upcoming fall, and you can spend it on stuff you truly enjoy doing!
Everyone is different, so this advice may not be what is best for you. Try to figure out what can really assist you in getting an early start on your college application process. The fall will be here before you know it, and trying to balance both the rigorous workload that comes from attending Stone Ridge as well as extracurricular activities, and now adding on the college process, can definitely take a toll on you. Ultimately, it is a myth that senior year is easy and your workload lets up; it is not true! Do not come into your senior year expecting to have all the time in the world to work on your college applications, because you are still going to be expected to keep up with the same rigorous workload. The college office automatically sends your first semester grades of senior year to the colleges and universities you applied to, so you are going to want to be certain you have the best possible grades. I cannot express how much getting ahead of what you can will do for you, you want to be able to enjoy your senior year!
Here is a list of tips that will help you or give you ideas of what you can do to get ahead:
1. If you want to get ahead with getting advice, find outside of school counselors! It can be very helpful to get outside advice.
- You’ll be in good hands in the fall with Stone Ridge’s amazing college counselors, but having a second opinion throughout summer and having someone who can get to know you can be helpful when choosing schools to apply to.
2. Get ahead on your Common App essay and finish your resume.
- Most likely, you will have multiple supplemental essays from different colleges that you will want to focus on.
3. Narrow down your list of colleges. Figure out your target schools, reaches, and likelies.
- You do not want to randomly apply to schools based on their names; you want to find schools that will fit you.
4. If you have not gone on visits to colleges you are interested in, summer is the perfect time to do it.
- Tour as many schools as you can, not just your dream schools. You never know what schools you may fall in love with.
5. Find some internships to do throughout the year based on your interests, this will also help you get ideas for your end-of-year internship.
- Not only does this look good for colleges, but it can help you figure out what you want to pursue in college.
6. Do not wait until the last minute to do your summer work.
- This applies to everyone, but especially incoming seniors where it is easy to make the assumption that you have time to do it last minute.
7. Do your research on colleges, and figure out what type of school is the best fit for you.
- There are so many different schools out there. Big schools, small schools, schools in city or with only a small college town, party schools, schools with more intense academic, and the cost of schools.
8. Finally, try your best to not stress. Senior year is one of the most exciting times, and you want to be able to expirience all the fun festivities without the feeling of colleges weighing you down.
