Thousands of colleges in the United States may want you as a student. The school of your choice has everything that you can imagine. You get to listen to professors teach classes in your favorite subjects. Clubs and sports let you enjoy events with your friends.
No longer something to dream about, college lets you handle responsibility on your own. Your parents may have waited until they were older than you to start applying, but you need to do it now.
You can find a college on the Internet after you decide what you want.
Describing Yourself
Achievements that you have earned in your life so far draw a picture of yourself that colleges need.
Finding a school that suits you depends on your goals and actions. To take a personal inventory, you need to make a list:
1. Strengths and Weaknesses
You can include academic skills as well as social abilities.
Describe yourself as someone who sets goals and wants to learn new things.
Asking for help when you need it shows your strength, and working well with others gives you an advantage.
If your friends think of you as shy, talkative, athletic or brainy, you can put those words on your list.
If you cannot forget about regrets, you may have a weakness that you can include in your inventory.
2. Extracurricular Activities
Fun things that you like to do outside of school help others understand you. You may like to play sports or act in plays.
Learning a new language or debating may interest you.
Remember to include jobs that you do for free or for pay.
3. Honors
Awards for any of your activities in or out of school help colleges get to know you.
4. Class Rank and Academic Test Scores
When you know your class rank or the results of your SAT tests, you can add them to your list.
Choosing a School
You can find schools that you like by searching the Internet.
- Search for a college with a campus near your home so that you can visit your family on holidays.
- Choose one in a far away town if you want to have a new adventure.
- Search for online classes that let you work at your own pace.
Compile a list of about 10 schools from your Internet search and request an application.
You do not have to ask for admission until later, but you can get good practice by completing the form.
The essay deserves your best writing effort, and you can polish it as many times as you want. You can ask colleges to help you with writing it.
Finding Financial Support
Your school’s guidance counselor can tell you about scholarships and other funds that can assist you.
Search the Internet for colleges’ financial aid offices or for federal aid programs.