I began my sophomore year of high school arriving from school every afternoon, opening each college admission department letters, and hoping one would be different.
Well at least they know my name.
Barely.
It became different as the school year dragged on. I began to throw out piles and piles with my eyes closed, not realizing which college it came from or how many times they had already sent me a request to read their guide on "How to Get Into College." These letters were making me sick and I hadn't even started the process of visiting or looking into schools at all.
What I Should Be Looking At
Fast forward to the start of my junior year in high school. I'm struggling to keep that GPA up, my prepping for SAT begins and yes, you have to begin looking at colleges. The idea of college filled me with so many different emotions. I was either excited or scared, or too lazy to do anything.
My school college counselor was shoving information down my throat, not to mention that when you did have a question to ask her, her office was usually backed up with enough people for the rest of the year. When I searched for helpful tips on the college application process, nothing seemed to really help me out or call to me as I scanned anything.
I found that further and further into the year, my time was not running out like I originally believed. I had to get everything organized, because one of my biggest fears was not sending the right document to the right college, or forgetting a piece of an essay. It would happen to me.
I lined up my colleges in order from first priority. One of the most important things that I realized when I was bombarded with the pesky college letters was that I didn't even need to open them to see the name and see if I was interested.
Many times, the institution name on the envelope can tell you if its particular to liberal arts, stem, medicine, or business.
What I Am Looking At
A key in knowing whether the school is a public institution versus a private one, is if the name has the state name in it. For example, University of Florida and Florida State University are two public institutions. University of Miami or University of Tampa are private institutions because they do not contain the state name.
Don't call me dumb, but it makes sense if you think about it and I did not notice this until one of my friends mentioned it to me.
I also found out about a university that supposedly is popular, yet it seemed as though I was the only one who didn't know of it and found out about it through a movie.
I'm mentioning Wakeforest University, North Carolina. If you're thinking about where I might have come up with the idea of applying here, well I saw the movie "The Last Ride" based on a book by Nicholas Sparks. I couldn't help but look into the school when I saw the beauty of it on the big screen. Talk about advertisement for that college.
When I found the letter in the mail from Wakeforest University Admissions Office, I went crazy just because this was the university in the movie. It was requesting me to look at its "Guide to Get Into College," and so that was my next course of action. I was actually interested because I took the time to snoop around the website and see if they had my interests.
I began requesting more information on the university and the letters seemed to be getting more personalized. Just the other day, I came home from class and received the letter requesting me to begin looking at the application for the following year when I would be graduating high school. I still wondered if this letter was template and if they simply regenerated the same words with thousands of other names.
However, no other university had done this except for those who I still had requested more information from after the "Guide to Getting Into College" request letter.
Wakeforest University was keeping track of me.
I showed interest, keeping an almost ping-pong contact with them throughout the year-without actually being in contact, and they noticed.
Leg up.
I've already begun the application process for each of the universities I want to apply to for Fall 2017. A family friend of mine who works for Miami-Dade Community College recommended I start the application process early and that I turn it in as soon as possible. The earlier I do, I would also be in the same order for scholarships.
Look for the local programs that can provide college for free. For anyone, this is a life saver. I was informed my sophomore year in high school that the Miami-Dade Community College Honors Program is free when accepted, because those who do get accepted are also awarded a scholarship that pays for it fully. That means getting my A.A. without pulling a dollar out of pocket and getting paid almost $700 per semester to be in their program. Hello, new purses and shoes every semester!
People judge that it's "community college" and what-not. Well, no job employer will look at your education and judge you based on where you obtained your A.A. It's a two-year program anyways, and once you have completed it, their contract consists of being accepted into any public university in the state of Florida, no matter what.
Obviously, not every college has this program. Yet, so few people actually know about opportunities like these. Be sure to keep scoring higher and higher for your SAT and ACT standardized tests. Even if you've already met the requirements for the school you want to attend, an institution just might pick someone else over you because their scores my be better. Don't forget your GPA, of course, and those extracurricular activities. Institutions want to see a well rounded student, someone who can contribute to their student body, not someone who spends 24/7 with their nose inside of a textbook and no social life.
*Disclaimer: Now, I'm no expert at college and I'm not going to write you an article that's called "College 101," because this doesn't tell you how to get into college. I want to share my process and perspective so far of how I'm getting there and if anyone can relate.
