Hi Class of 2018:
I’m sure right about now you are all cramming and scrambling to finish your essays and supplemental questions, redundantly entering in the last four years of grades into applications as if colleges weren’t getting your transcripts already and thinking about where you are going to spend the next four years of your life.
Don’t get me wrong, it was the most stressful few months I’ve ever experienced, but considering I am here, in college a year later, I promise it all works out in the end.
So before you and your parents officially go to war as they’re down your throat to “do this and finish that,” before you wish you had called every kid out on his/her college advisors writing all of his/her essays and before you kill your best friend who you secretly envy because she has already clicked submit on all her applications, here are a few pieces of advice I wish I knew when I went through the application process a short year ago.
Trust me, it will alleviate the stresses you are most definitely plagued by and at the very least, you will breathe a little easier.
First and foremost, don’t be narrow-minded in setting your sights on one school and disregard some very reputable, and sometimes more suitable options. This stubbornness might cause you to miss out on or conveniently not hear about another school’s incredible qualities and opportunities. Be sure to tour the schools you can physically get to, and imagine whether you can realistically see yourself walking around and going class to class with the students there.
See if you get “the feeling” everyone is talking about, because that “feeling” really does exist.
When you’re selecting schools to apply to, do not solely look at the numbers and statistics given on their websites or your school’s Naviance.
Remember they are only “averages,” and there are always many above and below that average – you can be one of them.
Don’t underestimate yourself and hold back from applying to a school you are seriously interested in.
Don’t overestimate yourself and think that you’re too smart or intelligent to go to a school (scholarships are a great thing).
Flukes happen all the time, so if you want to apply to your dream school for “shits and gigs,” go for it! You have nothing to lose! I have learned and personally experienced that there is no rhyme or reason to “The College Game.” Expectations, surprises, and disappointments are fundamental in the process, so just be prepared to accept anything.
The most important piece of advice I can offer is to please not get caught up in social media. There is a lot more to college than what you see for a brief moment on Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook.
College is not solely a Saturday tailgate or a Thursday night bar scene or a random frat party. While those are some of the fun parts of college, focusing exclusively on those aspects will create a false reality. Trust me, you spend a lot more time in classes, studying and doing homework, and just hanging around your dorm with friends than any of those events.
With inexplicable relief, when you click send on your last application, you are immediately liberated. The pressures and anxiety that have been building up and boiling within for your entire high school career have just been obliterated.
But not too fast, as you enter phase two, otherwise known as the Waiting Game.
While you’re 95% on your way, don’t ignore the extra 5%. Continue to research and consider the options you have, don’t give up on your senior year academics because you will have to submit a final transcript and definitely don’t get caught up in everyone else’s decisions.
This is your turn, and ultimately you are the only one who has to make the final transition to college, and while listening to other people’s advice is important, listen to your gut first.
Acceptances and rejections will come trickling in, and while you anxiously want to make a final decision without hearing from every school, don’t!
Don’t get wrapped up in other peoples Facebook decision posts and don’t have FOMO about missing out on social meet-ups.
Do consider what programs you were accepted to at each college and do consider the scholarships and financial packages you received from each.
Do consider the distance and travel involved from home to college.
Be patient. You have until May 1. You’ll beg your parents to just approve of your could be hasty decision because all your friends have made theirs already
Make a pros/cons list for each school to help in weighing your options and remember, above all, you need to be happy. Once you make what seems to be a written-in-stone move, and post “XYZ University Class of 2022” on Facebook, still then, don’t feel as if you can’t change your mind.
We are young and hasty and sometimes our perceptions aren’t realities (guilty as charged). Contrary to guidance counselors’ guidelines or advice and contrary to your peers’ condemnation – do not rescind your applications. Things happen last minute – you have worked way too hard for this opportunity and that application decision belongs to you entirely. Ignore those have scorn that you’re taking up their potential admission spot.
You paid for that application and you earned that decision through to the end.
Lastly, guys, don’t get over-involved in “meet-ups.” I personally went to more meet-ups for the school I ended up not going to and only 1 for SU. Those cliques and groups that form are not the only way to make friends in college. They cause undue stress and anxiety and most likely you will not find your best friend or group that you meet on a random night in New York City or at someone’s house hosting a school-themed party.
I will make a promise to all of you seniors: next year at this time you will be at the college or university at which you belong. I know this process seems like the most stressful and life-changing decision you have gone through, but it is all worth it in the end. You likely have so many people involved in the process with you so listen to their advice. Relax and enjoy your Senior Year. You will end up at the College or University you belong at and know that relief at the end of the tunnel is in sight.
Just be happy, you’re way closer to the end than to the beginning.