When Should I Apply to College?

Too many times, students wait too late to apply to their college or university of choice. So when should you apply? Here are some tips.

* Talk to the school as early as possible to get all the information you can.
* Many schools only consider your grades cumulative through your junior year for admission. They look at your final grades to decide whether or not you can still attend.
* Apply early. The application itself is usually the most extensive process for both you and the school.
* Take your ACT and/or SAT in your junior year of high school. Due to deadlines, the October administrations (during your senior year) of the exams may be your last chance at certain institutions.
* Do not miss the final deadline. College application deadlines are non-negotiable.
* Make sure you have submitted ALL applications and required documents to your college or university.
* Keep copies of everything you submit - including the dates that transcripts were mailed by your high school.
* GET THE INFORMATION FIRST-HAND! So many things are different from one school to the next and even from one year to the next. In other words - DO NOT ASSUME.
* The application process is different at different types of schools. Not all schools require essays, lists of activities, or interviews for example.
* Above all else, do not be afraid to ask questions. This is your first time going through this process.

Try to take steps one at a time and get an early start on gathering applications and information on your colleges. Beginning all of this in October of your senior year is WAY too late.

How to Get Better Grades – Part 5 of 5

Get Support

At crunch time, it helps to have someone to coach, cheerlead, and yes, nag you. Who’s your nag of choice?
• Your mom or dad
• Your brother, sister, uncle, etc.
• A nice kid in your class who knows the stuff but isn’t such a genius that she’d have a hard time explaining things in plain English.
• A tutor. Ask the teacher if he can work with you after school. If not, ask if he can recommend someone. Tutors can make a big difference.

If You’re Too Upset to Do Schoolwork

Your parents are fighting, your best friend is telling lies about you, you’re going through another bout of thinking you’re ugly. Whatever the reason, you’re feeling too upset to think about schoolwork.

• First, try to fight through it. You may think you’re too depressed or anxious to concentrate on quadratic equations but if you just get started, you may find that the schoolwork distracts you. Get it done and you’ll probably feel better - you’ll have taken control over your life. Getting good grades is a step toward a better life. Don’t do it and you’ll have one more reason to feel miserable.

• Nip your worrying in the bud. The moment you catch yourself beginning to worry, decide whether you can do anything about your problem now. If not, turn your attention back to your schoolwork. If you don’t nip your worry in the bud, it tends to snowball into such a big worry that there’s no way you’ll be able to concentrate on schoolwork.

• If those techniques don’t work, it may be time to talk to a counselor or someone else you trust.

• Get started early. You'll be less stressed, you'll learn more, and crazy as it may sound, you may actually enjoy studying. Cramming is never fun. It’s just an adrenaline-powered frenzy session likely to result in a so-so grade, and, seven seconds after the exam, your forgetting 90% of what you crammed.

• Maintain perspective. Yes, you want good grades, and yes they matter, but there are plenty of C students with better lives than many A students. In the end, your life will probably be no worse if you get a B rather than an A in World History.

• One more secret: Your parents or teachers probably won’t tell you this, but the truth is that many FINE colleges will admit you with so-so grades.

Truth in College Readiness

Only a little more that two out of four high-school graduates go on to college. But nearly 30 percent of four-year students and 60 percent of those who attend community college are forced to take noncredit remedial courses because, despite their high-school diplomas, they lack basic skills in the core subjects of English and mathematics.


For most students, news of their shortcomings is a shock. Remedial class placement, which is usually determined by standardized tests taken in the months between leaving high school and starting college, is highly associated with an increased risk of dropping out. Thus, those students that are prepared academically have a greater likelihood of persisting and graduating. So how can we change this current situation? The students need to be more aware of where they stand – both to prepare better, and not be stunned when they are told they need to take Math 75 (which won’t count for their degree, but they will have to pay for it) before they even have a chance at getting into Math 101 or higher (depending on their proposed major.

In a poll done by high school counselors in 2008 found that the majority of high school students often waste the 12th-grade year on courses not in line with a college preparatory curriculum. That would be taking classes such as (but not limited to) journalism, art, choir, or physical education that are neither required for graduation nor necessary for college admission. Electives can be good, and are needed as evidence of a well-rounded secondary education, but taking too few “core” academic subjects during the senior year is frowned upon and can hurt not only an admission to a potential university, but also a student’s recollection and therefore his or her ability to successfully pass that barrage of standardized tests typically taken during or directly following the 12th-grade year.


The California State University system has shown much success administering a policy in recent years on this very subject. They offer remedial placement exams to all high-school students, without charge, one year earlier, at the end of the 11th grade. That would give each student an idea of where they are, allowing them to take that additional math class or concentrate very hard in English (or even get tutoring) during their senior year. Now, I’m not saying that this is the only way, or the best, but it is a start…

I think what shocks parents and students the most when I meet with them to talk about going to college is when I ask to speak to anyone in the 7th grade or higher. They ask why and the response is always the same: “Going to college is more a mindset than a decision.” Of course, you should decide that you want to go to college, and decide that you will prepare yourself, and decide that this that and the other will get done... But it really only takes one decision to go to college – the rest is acting on it and seeing it through, thus the mindset.

Now, I’ll walk you through each decision once the student has that mindset… Stay tuned.