College. A word all seniors and juniors dread, however with the right help and knowledge no fear should stem from that word. With the help of the whole counseling department, teachers, and administrative faculty, Visitation will undoubtedly have your back the whole way through this stressful time! The two most important websites for the college process are Naviance and the Common App. Naviance is your go to website for all the quick facts you need to learn about each university your heart desires. The one most crucial feature on the site is the Advanced College Search page under the colleges tab. Juniors this will be your best friend! The best thing, juniors, is to start playing with this as soon as you can. Select all the things you want in a college like preferred region, size and athletic league division, and future major and see what Naviance comes up with for you. You can do this as many times as you want until you gather a list of schools you are happy with. You should also make sure to read EVERYTHING on the induvial pages for the colleges. Look for the little things, and the big like what the job placement rate is to the how many years you are required to live on campus. Everything matters so make sure you really read. For seniors, Naviance is your reminder buddy! Make sure to always check your message notifications from counselors, and especially the college visits under college tabs. The Common App you will to use once you know what schools you want to apply to, and sadly this site is where all the work really begins. Juniors again, start as soon as the counselors tell you to! Most of the tedious work here is filling out generic information. The best way to do this is to sit down with a parent and conquer these questions together. Split up you time so you work on it 20-30 minutes a night until finished. After that is down the check list is almost complete! Next you will work on the infamous essays. Horrifying I know however, there are tons of videos online about how you can perfecting it. Along with online videos Viz offers a class, which is a great way to get a good start. Take the time to at least watch one or do the class, your resources can only benefit you! Finally, remember your resume. Anytime you join a club, sport, or even get a job you need to update it. You could make a google spreadsheet as a draft or just start on work. Updating it as regularly will not only be a great asset to your teachers for their letters of recommendation but it can also suffice as data for the Common App. Time management is key!!!. Every second you spend working on it earlier will make your future self very grateful!
- Astrid Smith