Soon to be High School Seniors-Hit the Road this Summer

 

For the upcoming class of high school seniors, these warm summer days should be a time for trips to the beach, hopefully a summer job and completely forgetting about the anxiety ridden college search process that is lurking just around the next bend of their life…………..No sorry, most likely not.

Soon to be seniors, you can’t just take a complete pass this summer if you expect a successful and less stressful conclusion to your quest to find your ideal school. The summer months between your junior and senior year are the best time for you to go out with your parents and visit colleges on your long list (approximately 12-15) that you have not seen as yet. Although campuses are not in full swing, you can still get a sense as to whether the environment and culture is attractive to you. Most colleges conduct tours and information sessions as well as interviews (always take if available) throughout July and up until about mid-August.

Your objective should be to whittle down your list to about 8 schools before Labor Day because you want to be sure that every college you eventually apply to is one that you would seriously consider attending. I am amazed (and crazed) by students who plan to apply to 6-8 schools in the fall without having visited any or just a couple. What could easily happen is that after applying, you could realize after touring that you would never want to attend a few of them. This would significantly reduce your options especially if you find out you were not admitted to 2-3 other schools that were high on your list.

The other important reason to go on campus visits in the summer is that September and October become very busy times for seniors. This is more the time for you to get serious about the application process where you will be finalizing essays, taking the SAT's one more time and deciding whether to apply to certain schools as “early decision” or ” early action” if it is offered.  If you do decide to apply early, deadlines come quickly.  With classes and activities having begun, you probably won’t have the time to make college visits without significant disruption to the fall family schedule or putting at risk your very important first semester grades.

So yes the summer is for resting, recreation and making a few bucks and not a time to stress about your future. But taking a few road trips now could alleviate some future anxiety for everyone concerned and create a smoother path to the college of your choice.