Prepare Yourself for College Now by Dixie

Prepare Yourself for College Now by Dixie - November 2014 Scholarship Essay

What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a common, almost traditional question posed to kids as young as five year olds. In fact, from the first moment we enter grade school, college is presented to us as an important milestone that all young adults should strive to pursue. We are informed of college at a young age to encourage the process of choosing a career path and to instill good educational habits. Consequently, we grow up hoping and believing that we will attend college after graduation. However, rarely are we guided or mentored on how exactly to achieve such a large and demanding task with sufficient amount of time. There are many steps to take in order to qualify and be accepted into a college or university, and waiting until your senior year of high school to take such steps turns this life-long dream into a nearly impossible task. Looking back on my experience before college, I sincerely wish I could have been more equipped. Today, if I can provide one piece of advice to incoming high school freshmen it would be this: Prepare yourself for college now.

Every college and university is unique; however, all of them evaluate prospect students on their grades, writing, and test scores. We've always known that good grades are important, but colleges look more specifically at your GPA. The problem with the term "good grades" is that it implies A's, B's, and C's, depending on whom you ask, when in truth, it takes more than average grades to raise your GPA. What does help your GPA besides A's are honors and advanced placement courses. Unfortunately, such courses aren't considered or advised until your junior year of high school, which is not early enough to make an impact on an average student's GPA. In my case, I chose to take summer courses and participated in the dual enrollment program which provides students the option to take advanced courses that count towards a high school or college credit. It certainly wasn't easy to attend such challenging and fast paced classes during the summer while my friends went on their vacations, but I was determined to raise my GPA to increase my chances of being accepted at a university of my choice.

Along with your high school transcripts, students must submit a writing sample with their college application. This is where essay writing and research come in handy in high school. A good English teacher will not only teach you the right skills to communicate effectively on paper, he or she will also encourage you to revise your old essays so that you have a good selection to choose from for your college submissions. Luckily, most schools will accept an essay topic of your choice, but you want to be selective when choosing what writing sample to submit. Aside from choosing an essay that showcases your writing skills, you also want to consider an essay that explains or supports a general topic that most readers can relate to or have a common understanding of. In most cases, your essays will reference literature read in class. My advice is to select an essay that addresses a classic literary piece, that way you can showcase your ability to interpret and analyze advanced texts, which is a significant skill that will be applied frequently in college courses.

Although you normally don't start testing for SAT or ACT until your junior year of high school, students can start to practice for these exams as early as seventh grade with the PSAT's. Not every middle school participates in the nation-wide testing, but parents can purchase the exam directly through the company's website. Many publishing companies provide testing materials and even online courses to help students prepare for college exams. Moreover, students with high testing scores are eligible for scholarships and even admission to certain programs offered in many colleges, such as the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP) and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY). Students don't need to worry about receiving a low score during these practice exams. When you take the PSAT or SAT in middle school, the scores are removed from your record once you enter high school. Therefore, it pays to develop testing skills early on to better prepare yourself for the test that does count and will play a determining factor on your college admittance.

Applying to college is not an easy task, but it truly makes a difference in the admissions process if you start preparing in advance. From my personal experience applying to colleges, I know now that I could have avoided a lot of extra work and stress if I started working towards this goal at the start of high school. When you work on your college applications early, you provide yourself with sufficient time to take and pass advanced courses to raise your GPA, sufficient time to edit and revise your essays for your writing sample, and sufficient time to practice and acquire good testing skills to pass the SAT or ACT. Of course it helps to have the support of parents or school guidance counselor, but ultimately, it is the student's responsibility to establish and pursue their goals. If college is one of them, I advise high school freshmen not to wait any longer and start preparing themselves now.