Dear Rising High School Seniors

Dear Rising High School Senior,

Congratulations on finishing your junior year. Between standardized tests, classes, and all of your other commitments, you deserve a break. Rest up quickly, though, because you’re in for an exciting and busy summer. In addition to plans of travel, work, and relaxation, you’ll also want to get started putting together a tentative “final” list of schools that you plan to apply to, and you’ll want to start your application.

As you consider schools, keep in mind that demonstrated interest carries a lot of weight. If you cannot travel to a campus, spend time on the school’s website and consider emailing admissions with any questions you might have. Make your questions specific to the school, such as inquiring about the major you might want to study, the campus or social life, etc. Make sure you include your: name, year of graduation, high school’s name, town and state. In addition to using a school’s website, consider talking to local alumni - you can call admissions offices for this information. Admissions officers do not expect you to visit every school you are applying to, but showing interest is imperative.

The list you put together must be balanced to achieve maximum success and mitigate disappointment. A balanced list should include a majority of target schools along with several safety and reach (dream) schools. These designations can be determined by GPA and standardized test scores. A list of 9-12 schools is ideal.
When finals are over and school is out, make a Common App account. You’ll want to add schools to which you will be applying, and get started filling out basic information like family background, education, and your senior year schedule. You’ll also want to write your personal statement, a crucial part of the application which will give you the opportunity to show the best and most accurate representation of you. Starting early and leaving time for tweaking and editing is ideal.

Sending off an application that is done thoroughly and accurately will leave you without any doubts that you have done the best job possible in this very important and personal process. You will breathe a sigh of relief rather than have pangs of anxiety as you press submit and send off an application that makes you feel proud and confident.

Enjoy the summer and don’t forget to ask for help when you need it.

Yours truly,
Write Ahead College, LLC
www.writeaheadcollege.com