Applying for college can be complicated and stressful. You might ask yourself what you want to do with your career or what college fits you best. A easy website can help you with this, called MyCollegeOptions.com. On this site you enter in your information, including what career field would suit you best. They will then send you numerous emails with colleges that might suit you. All you need to do is sift out which college is best for you.

Get your ACT and SAT tests completed before your senior year. This will relieve a lot of stress on your end. Study as much as you can for the test, you can take a speed reading course at St. Ed’s (find the time). If you don’t do that great on your first test, don’t stress. You can take these tests multiple times, and each time you take it you’ll probably do a little better. When you finish your tests and your happy with the score you can start the application process.

You can easily apply to colleges using the Common Application. The Common App has a database full of a number of colleges such as Notre Dame, Drake and Duke University. It’s a fast way to get your applications to colleges.

Apply early to college. The earlier you apply, the faster your response will be. Most colleges offer a early admission option, which you should take advantage of. You’ll open your choices of colleges sooner and gives you time to plan. If you take don’t take advantage of the early admission, you’ll usually find out in March if you’ve been accepted. Always pay attention to the deadlines on your potential university/college.

The more the merrier. You can apply to as many colleges as you’d like. If you don’t get into the first college of your choice, you have fall backs.

Apply for scholarships! Scholarships are basically free money, don’t miss out on the many opportunities presented to you. Also don’t just ignore the emails from your counselors about college and scholarships (even if your a freshman).

Ask your guidance counselor for help. If you need help with any of the steps in applying, don’t hesitate to ask Mrs. S or Mrs. Fraser. They’ll always be there to help and support you along to process.

In my experience to applying to colleges it didn’t go quite as planned. I waited to apply to most of my college choices half way through senior year, and that can be stressful. I have applied to 12 different universities just to further my options and it honestly opened up a lot of opportunities. I initially wanted to go to a smaller school but when I talked to some people I thought that a bigger university would be just as good as any other.