Updated on April 7, 2016
Making Your Application Shine
Ok. You’ve narrowed down your college list to a manageable number and it’s time to begin the application process. Now what?!
- Make a list of the schools you’re planning to apply to. Include deadlines, case any additional application requirements, any information you can find regarding average SAT/ACT scores and average GPA of admitted students, and some of the features that you like best about each school. You’ll refer to this list later, and not just to make sure you’re not missing any deadlines!
- Draft your personal statement. Most schools you’re applying to will require a personal statement. Some schools have specific prompts and the Common Application has several prompts to choose from (read the Common App essay prompts). A good strategy is to select a broad prompt from the Common Application and then use that draft to build from in crafting more specific essays. Share a draft of your personal statement with your College Counselor, teacher, or a relative who has gone through the college application process. Your parents might be able to help, but most likely your parents are going to love anything you write. You need an unbiased opinion!
- Assemble your “resume.” Make a list of your accomplishments, your activities, volunteer work, and any leadership positions you held. Don’t participate in activities just to build your resume. Most college applicants participate in some to a lot of activities. You’ll stand out if you have deeper and/or sustained involvement. If your involvement is limited by personal circumstances (health, family, work obligations), you should explain this to the committee.
- Start working on the application. Take your time, answer the questions, and check your spelling. You don’t want to be the applicant who spells her mother’s name wrong!
- Finish your essay. When it comes time to add your essay to the application, re-read the essay prompt to make sure your essay answers the question. At this point, you’ll want to add some statements to your essay for each school you are applying to. Give an example (from your list of features that you created first) of why that particular school is a good fit. Make it clear that you’ve thought about this question. It could be that the school has a perfect location for internships in your field of interest, or that the size of the student body or average class size is a good fit for your learning style. If you’ve visited campus, you might mention that your visit confirmed your interest. Whatever you do, take a few moments to let the admissions committee know that you have given this issue some thought. And, whatever you do, make sure you do not write in your application to University X that you really, really can see yourself as a student at University Y.
- Submit. And breathe!
- If you are really serious about a school, you should try to visit. Take a campus tour and meet with an admissions counselor. Eat in the cafeteria. If your finances make this impossible, keep in touch with your admissions counselor with questions or updates on the progress of your application or with updates on your academic progress. Demonstrating a genuine interest in the school may help sway the admissions committee decision your way!
The most important thing to keep in mind is that there is a school out there for everyone. If you do your research you’ll have a list of appropriate schools where you will be happy and successful. If a school doesn’t accept you, it likely means that you weren’t really a fit for that school. Don’t get discouraged. Every year hundreds of thousands of college freshmen apply to, get accepted to, and enroll at thousands of schools around the country. With some good planning and careful submission of your applications, you will soon be joining them!
At Notre Dame de Namur University, we want you to have an application that shines. We want to be able to admit you to our community. We’re happy to answer any questions you have about the application process or the application itself. And we want to hear from you as you go through the process. Don’t be shy! One of the benefits of going to a smaller school is that the faculty and staff will get to know you and want to support you!
If all the colleges you are aypnpilg to accept the Common Application, you will just have to write one essay for all the schools. However, if they have their own application (which many do), they will each have different prompts. Sometimes they’ll ask you to come up with your own question and answer it. You will find the essay requirements and prompts on the application, so get a hold of one from each school you’re considering.