Students applying themselves–to college | The News Desk

Students applying themselves–to college | The News Desk

Great Advice from the article:

APPLICATION ADVICE
Figuring out the application is half the battle of getting into college. Here is advice from Courtland High School’s guidance director, Emily Hall, and U.Va. admissions counselor Pierce Coughter:
Start early. Hall said researching schools is especially important. “Don’t wait until your senior year to decide where you want to go,” she said.

Students should fill out the application by themselves. Hall said she knows it is tempting for parents to take over applying to college. But students need to ask for their own transcripts, ask for their own recommendations and fill out forms by themselves, she said. “They will be attending that school without their parents and need to learn to be responsible with these tasks.”

Early action vs. regular decision. Coughter said that early action does not offer any benefits that regular decision doesn’t. He said regular decision can be a better choice, especially if a student wants to include a stellar fall semester, senior-year report card with the application, which wouldn’t be feasible when applying early.
Take advantage of opportunities. Coughter knows that every school is different. He said when looking over applications he doesn’t compare students from different schools apples-to-apples. Instead, he looks at whether the applicant took advantage of what was offered. “We want to know you took advantage of the best curriculum at your school,” he said.
Essays. “Your essay topic has been done before,” Coughter said. What he looks for in an application essay is great writing, rather than an inventive topic. The best essay he ever read was about baseball, which has been written about often, but was passionately stated. For U.Va., though, he recommends not writing about Thomas Jefferson.