College application process

During the month of October, seniors in high schools throughout the country begin to stress about the college application process and narrowing down their college choices, choices of major, and submitting their applications on time via the internet or through the mail.

William Summers, a senior at Jim Thorpe Area High School, knows all too well about the chaos that is the college application process, as he is currently in the middle of applying to his dream schools.

“I am applying to the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, and Temple,” Summers stated. “I am applying to these schools because they are in the city, which is a big change from our hometown of Jim Thorpe. I want to study Biology.”

Although many think they that they have their lives planned out, there is a good percentage of students who are unsure of what they want to study or where they would like to go to school.

“Career cruising is a good tool to do a career assessment,” said Ms. Burchell. It matches you to careers that involve your interests and you can also select schools by location.”

There are also many students who may not know how or when to begin applying to colleges, but they should not be worried or discouraged by this.

“I am applying to all my colleges through the Common App,” said Summers. “I started applying about a month ago.”

The Common App is a website where students can add colleges to their college list, fill out all their applications, and submit them in an organized manner. It is highly recommended by teachers and guidance counselors nationwide, specifically by the guidance counselors here at Jim Thorpe High School.

“We recommend beginning the application process as early as September and narrowing your list of colleges down to three to five schools,” said Ms. Burchell, a Jim Thorpe Area High School guidance counselor. “Only use the Common App if you are applying to two or more colleges. Be sure to look at the requirements for each school first before applying.”

Through the Common App, Summers began to fill out the applications for the three schools he wishes to attend, all while being aware of his specific deadlines.

“I am applying early decision to UPenn, but regular decision to the rest,” stated Summers, the Ivy League hopeful. My deadlines are November 1 for early decision and January 5 for my regular decision schools.”

While applying to colleges, students must obtain specific materials required by each college, such as letters of recommendation from teachers and coaches and standardized test scores.

“The hardest part of the application process is the waiting for everything involved; you need to wait for recommendation letters, test scores, approval for your essays, and worst of all, wait for your acceptance or rejection letter,” Summers added

Once students have these materials, the final step of the application process if requesting their transcripts.

“Parchment,” a website in which students can request their transcripts through, “ should always be the last step,” said Jim Thorpe guidance counselor, Mrs. Klotz.

After transcripts have been requested through Parchment, the college application process is finally complete.

“The best tip I can give is to not wait to start or fill in your application. Filling in as much as you can as soon as you can will lessen your workload and will reduce stress, so you can focus on the parts of the application that really matter like the essay,” added Summers, the national merit scholar finalist.

If you are a student who needs any help with the college application process, please refer to the emails that Ms. Burchell and Mrs. Klotz have been sending. They include in-depth information about this overwhelming process.

The college application process is not one that has to be stressful. With the helpful tips of Summers and the Jim Thorpe guidance counselors, the process can begin to seem easier and less overwhelming.

Good luck to all with the application process.

 

About the Author

chriswilliams31
Chris Williams is a current senior in the class of 2018 at Jim Thorpe Area High School. Williams has been in the district since kindergarten in 2005 where he attended Penn-Kidder Campus in Albrightsville until 2014. Williams’ strength of schedule throughout high school has been extremely demanding, comprising of many weighted, honors, and AP courses. Williams is ranked ninth in his class and maintains a GPA of 103.7. His favorite subjects include Spanish, history, and English. When it comes to extracurriculars, you can find Williams in a variety of clubs and teams within the school and community. Athletically, Williams has been a four year member of the boys varsity soccer team since freshman year. This year, he is a captain for the 2017-18 season. Besides soccer, Williams plays the alto saxophone for the concert, jazz, and marching bands, is a member of the National Honor Society, scholastic scrimmage team, and ski club. Outside of school, Williams plays travel soccer for Lehigh Valley United FC and is also an Eagle Scout in Boy Scout Troop 555. Williams has an extreme passion for sports and storytelling through writing, film, and photography. After high school, Williams is will be attending Emerson College in Boston to major in Journalism. Williams will also play soccer for Emerson. Williams aspires to become a sports journalist upon completion of college. His dream job would be to write about either soccer, hockey, or college sports for a media outlet such as Bleacher Report, Copa 90, Goal.com, ESPN, Fox Sports, or CBS Sports.

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