|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
With Rachel Korn, a former admissions officer at Univ. of Pennsylvania, Brandeis, and Wellesley. |
| | |
| | |
|
|
| Assess Yourself: Part
I |
|
|
|
To figure out the best college for you, the
very first step is to know yourself well. Start the
investigation this week by assessing your goals and your
academics.
|
|
|
|
| ASK YOURSELF
What do I want to do when I grow
up?
What subjects fascinate me?
What subjects
might I have to study?
What is my GPA and estimated
class rank?
What is the number of honors/AP courses
I am taking?
What is my PSAT or PACT score - what
might my testing look like?
Next week, I'll show you how to
combine this information with your personality
assessment to begin to find the schools for
you.
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sign up for more great advice on: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Counselor's Corner |
|
| Goal setting by Lisa Bleich |
January is a great time to take stock of yourself and assess how you are spending your time and energy.
It is also a great time to set goals for the coming year to shore up areas of weakness
and go deeper into your areas of strength.
So how do you know where to focus to prepare yourself for the college application process?
- Leadership: Junior year is the year to pursue leadership in whatever you are involved in.
If you are an athlete, can you become captain? If you are a journalist,
can you become editor-in-chief?
If you are a scout, what do you need to achieve Eagle Scout or the Gold award?
Identify what you need to do to achieve your goal and develop a plan.
- Academic: Are you challenging yourself enough in your classes? Are you getting
the best grades you can, or can a little extra studying help you change that B+ to an A?
Set a goal to improve at least one grade.
- Standardized tests: Do you do better on the SAT or the ACT?
Identify which test works better for your test taking skills.
Set a goal to focus on improving either test by the equivalent of 50-100 points in the SAT.
- Extracurricular activities: Are you enjoying the activities you are doing? If not,
find ones that you love? Are you doing enough?
Are you doing too much? Set a goal to get involved deeper in something you love.
This can mean taking a leadership position or spending more time practicing an instrument.
- Athletics: If you are involved in athletics, figure out if you want to play in college.
Junior year is the time to start contacting coaches.
Set a goal to identify target schools and send out a letter and athletic resume to the team's coach.
- Special talents: Do you have a special talent? Are you a gifted musician, actor or artist?
Do you have a facility with languages? Are you a natural entrepreneur?
Whatever your talent is, set a goal to pursue it to the fullest and share your talent with others.
Take a risk with your talent by auditioning for a state orchestra
or choir or entering a writing contest.
- Intellectual curiosity: Do you have innate curiosity for a particular topic?
Do you find yourself researching topics outside of school? If you have a love a science,
identify a way to pursue that further through a summer research opportunity.
Develop a plan to learn more.
- Financial: Speak with your parents about their financial commitment to your college degree.
Understand how much they are willing to pay and what you will need to contribute.
Set a goal to understand the financial differences among schools
and which schools are in your financial reach. Identify schools that can give merit awards.
The views expressed herein are those of their authors alone, and do not necessarily represent the views of Hundreds of Heads or of IECA
|
|
| The College Board - www.collegeboard.com |
|
|
|
| YOU DONT HAVE TO IDENTIFY your number one
choice at this point.
-- STEVE
DETETRIADIS
PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA
WEST
VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
IT IS NEVER TOO SOON TO START
preparing for college. You really have to assess your
interests and skills well before you are accepted to a
college and choose a major. Then you can properly choose
the right career path for yourself and take relevant
steps that will serve as a solid foundation for the
first steps of your career. For instance, if you know
you are good at writing, work at a newspaper during high
school. Experience is key in any field.
-- CARLY
JACOBS
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
LA SALLE
UNIVERSITY
|
|
|
Contact colleges directly through their Web
sites and put yourself on their mailing lists. In
addition to information, you will automatically receive
their applications in the mail the summer before your
senior year.
|
|
|
| Remember:
To make sure you continue to
receive HeadsUp! Get Into
College
e-mails in your inbox (and that they aren't sent to junk
folders), please add college@hundredsofheads.com to your address
book. |
|
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
