Breaking Down the Common App

You know, tomorrow and Friday sound a lot a like. Say it over and over: tomorrow...Friday...see? :]

Anyway, let's talk the different aspects of the application, the do's and dont's in a way.

You:
-There's not much I can say about this one. One common mistake people sometimes make in regards to their birthday is they say, for example 05/27/2010 instead of 05/27/1994. You are not less than one years old. Just saying
-Another tip is to keep your social security number handy and safe, or even memorize it. A lot of college things ask for it. While it's usually not required, it can sometimes make things like test reports and applications go faster since your social security number is an integral part of your identity.
-If you would be embarrassed to give your grandmother your email (ex. sexybabes203@yahoo.com), then DON'T use it for a college. Your school email is usually a good choice, or a normal sounding gmail (such as ckdavis27@gmail.com for example)

Demographics:
-The required parts of this category are asking about citizenship. If you are not a citizen, but rather a permanent resident, refugee, etc. there will be a later blog about special things you might have to do. They will also ask you about your primary language.
-The part that ISN'T required is asking about your race, marital status, religious preferences, etc. If you don't feel comfortable answering, you don't have to. This part is COMPLETELY optional, and will not be held against you in any way. It's actually against the law for you to be forced to answer, or for you to be discriminated based on how you answer.


Your Family:
-If your parents are divorced, make sure you get the correct address of the parent you spend less time with
-Ask your parents their college information to ensure you get it right. The same with employment. A lot of kids don't actually know what their parent's official title is, or the exact/proper name of their parent's employer.
-Inform parents to choose a respectable email (NOT sexymomma204@yahoo.com) as well as an email they don't mind getting the occasional college-related email sent to.

Your School(Education and Academics):
-Don't guess your GPA. If you aren't sure, Ellen can actually give you your GPA any time during the year. It would be embarrassing to say you have a 3.5 and you actually have a .5, just saying.
-Uni doesn't rank! So don't try to guess this either. They won't look at you badly for not ranking, or choosing "My school doesn't rank". Colleges know Uni High, and they don't compare students from different schools necessarily. They compare each student to their own school in order to make a judgment about that student's skill.
-Like before, double check on the contact information for Uni, just to be careful and accurate
-IMPORTANT: your counselor is NOT Rachel Green or Karl Radnitzer. Your counselor is Lisa Micele for ALL college-related things. When it says counselor, it's always going to be Lisa.
-Our GPA is unweighted
-As you get scores, put in your best one for each subject. For example, if you took the ACT test in February and received a 28 on math, then in April received a 32, PUT IN THE 32! Most colleges will see both the Feb and April tests, but some colleges superscore your best from different days. Even if they don't, they will see that 28-->32 as positive, and they WON'T hold it against you
-Put in your 12th grade, or Senior schedule WHEN YOU GET IT
-If you have honors, put them in. If you don't, you can still get in to great colleges. Don't feel pressured necessarily.

Activities:
"Please list your principal extracurricular, volunteer, and work activities in their order of importance to you."- Common App

-Write down, on paper, the activities you are in that you are actually involved in. Let's say you go to Kung Fu Club once. Didn't like it. Why would you put it on your list of activities? You have nothing to say about it. Don't put it down if you aren't actually involved. Colleges care more about invested time or a long involvement in a few activities instead of 400 activities.
-Organize them in order of importance. Let's say you play piano, play soccer, and sing in madrigals. If you are super passionate about madrigals, PUT THAT FIRST. Order of importance to YOU, not the college.
-Start collecting how much time you spend a week and year doing your various activities. It's okay to estimate.


This is just the first part. I didn't want to overwhelm you! Check back soon, I will have an entire blog about dealing with the essay.

-Celinda Davis :]

A is for Applications :]

Welcome to my A-Z list of college! Today (and tomorrow, since this is such a big topic) we are delving into the world of Applications. Today, I plan on introducing what to expect on an application and the glorious Common App

What kinds of things are applications asking about?
All kinds of applications (colleges, finanical, etc.) will ask about:
-You (your name, birthdate, email, number, social security number)
-Your family (Mom and Dad's name, contact informtation, schooling, employment, your siblings schooling)
-School Information (your GPA, your school's contact information, your class rank [REMEMBER: Uni doesn't rank], your 12th grade plans)
-Extracurricular/Community Service/Paid Work (Sports, fine arts, school clubs, waitressing, Savoy 16)
-A mini-essay about your favorite extracurricular
-A Personal Statement (who the heck are you anyway?)

Throughout the coming week, I will discuss each of the above mentioned aspects in more detail, as well as the do's and don'ts

Futher, I want to introduce to you today the holy grail of applications (at least, the found holy grail)

THE COMMON APPLICATION
https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx

This beauty has over 400 partner colleges. If you have colleges on this list, you answer all the basic questions about yourself, your family, your school, etc., then have it sent to ALL your colleges that are on Common App (even cooler, you can send it to only some colleges, and not all colleges, if you aren't ready to send it to all!)
There is a space for each college's supplements, which you send separate from your main application, as well as a place to invite teachers to each school (that's right, Ms. Suslick could write to Cornell College, but Mr. Buck could write to Beloit College. It's pretty groovy like that).
However, not all colleges are on the Common App. To see which are, follow this link:
https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Members.aspx

Anyway, tomorrow we will delve deeper into the application!
-Celinda <3

Asleep at the wheel...

OMG
I haven't written in a month??
Just letting you know that life got incredibly busy for a while, finishing some college applications, college visits, school. I plan to be back in action starting tomorrow.
I am really excited, cause for the next month or so, I am doing an A-Z list of all things college! Tomorrow look forward to A: Applications!

Plus, Illinois Wesleyan stories, Why (insert college here): how nutso those essays are, how to begin building the list (including unusual lists like, "colleges with the happiest students"), and of course, the testing plan.

Sorry about my hiatus there!

Loves,
Celinda :]