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[D76]Deadline For College Applications

by Teve Torbes, Tev

If you've got kids who are getting close to the age where they'll need to apply to college, you should start figuring out a plan for getting them into the place they'll want to go. Ideally, you should start this before they even get into high school – you can wait if your kids want to go to less competitive schools, but if you're shooting for places that are harder to get into (or even for the less competitive ones if your child has been getting poor grades) you'll need to plan ahead.

First, around the beginning of high school, you need to help find your teen something to do as far as an extracurricular activity. Colleges want students who have in depth commitments to a couple of activities that they really like doing. These days, it's not as good to be a member of fifteen different clubs – you'll want to pick one or two and focus on them.

Which ones will depend on how you child is planning to get in. If he or she is a sports star, you'll want at least one academic activity such as drama or debate that balances out their application – preferably one that doesn't take up too much time. If they're an academic all star, it's often best to stick with that anyway – you're not going to get a sports scholarship unless you're both good and dedicated, but you could look at volunteer work as a way of making the application look better.

Keep on your kids about their grades – this is not the time to let them slack. Find out what they will need on average to get into the schools they like, and push them to keep their grades above that level. Plan on studying for the SAT at least six months beforehand – it can be a make or break, even for the athletes. Finally, get on top of the applications period – many times, your kids won't. So you'll need to make sure they're doing their essays and filling them out.

However, you shouldn't let these little barriers stop you from filling out that application to the school of your dreams. Let me tell you a story.

The college I wound up attending had a very straightforward and quick application process. When I started at school, I found many students who were attending simply because the application was easy. Their good grades has gotten them excepted quickly, but they had no particular interest in the courses at my school (an engineering school). Some, when asked what they wanted to do, would give such decidedly non-engineering careers such as fashion design!

Most of these people dropped out soon. I can't help but think that if they had spent a little more time finding the right school for them instead of applying because the application was easy, they might have done a lot better. Rather than allowing the challenges of applying to a school to cause you to look for an easier path, plow ahead through the process.

To help with this plowing process, I've created this quick list of tips on eliminating the barriers that stop most people from making the leap and applying for the schools they really want to attend. Read them and learn.

1. Application Fees

To many it may seem odd that a $60 fee would be a hurdle for someone applying to a school that costs thousands, but if you are applying to many colleges, the fees will stack up quickly. The solution to this one is simple, though. Just call up the the admissions office and tell them about your financial situation, and many times they will waive the fee for you. Even if they don't, it never hurts to try.

3. Letters of Recommendation

There are a few quick fixes here. When you're out begging for letters, ask if they could make the letter generic enough to change a few words (preferably just the school name) out for different schools, and give them a list of schools you're applying to so they can make multiple copies. Then, give them pre-addressed and stamped envelopes to send the letters out in. This "batching" technique is much more time efficient that individual letters.

3. The Essay's

For many, this is the most daunting aspect of the entire application. Let me tell you how to make it easier. Go through each of your applications, and find out what they're looking for with the essay. You will notice that many of these essays are on similar topics. Once you've identified these similarities, you can "modularize" your essays in order to save time. Once you have these topic modules written, you can just copy, paste, and change the sections into the appropriate essay. Just be sure to alter any references to the school name, or else Harvard admissions might be puzzled as to why your only goal in like is to attend Duke!

Hopefully, these tips have help you out a bit with the applications process. Be sure to never give up on your dreams, particularly due to what are actually very small (though largely annoying) obstacles such as college applications. Good luck with the process, and I hope you get into the school of your dreams!

Article Source : Pg. 96

About Author

Both Teve Torbes & David Wilson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Teve Torbes has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Management, Computers and The Internet and Education. . Teve Torbes's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.

David Wilson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Camping, Team Building and Bad Credit Loans. David Wilson is the man behind . Visit to learn about finding, applying, and getting into your perfect school. Whether you want to be a doctor,. David Wilson's top article generates over 1500000 views. to your Favourites.