With the stress of a double curriculum in an Orthodox high school, students must balance a huge workload and long school days with extracurricular activities and leisure time. Once college preparation is added to that equation, high school is certainly not a relaxing experience. The advice that most high school seniors would give to sophomores and juniors is to start the college process early. All of the aspects of the process from testing to essays take a great deal of time, so starting early is a the key to success. The process can be quite draining but it’s always good to have some idea of what the process is like before you dive in head first.
Standardized tests. As soon as a high school student hears that phrase, they are ready to run in the opposite direction. Although not all colleges require testing for admissions, the majority do. The anxiety starts at the very beginning. Before preparation or testing can even begin, you must decide whether to take the SAT or the ACT. Both are equally challenging but the ACT focuses more on science and math, while the SAT puts more of an emphasis on reading and writing. Many college guidance counselors recommend that you take a few diagnostic tests before you decide which test you would be better at. Once the results of the diagnostic tests are analyzed, you are ready to make a decision about which test to take. And then the fun of studying really begins.
In 2014, the College Board announced that it will be changing the SAT format as of March 2016. This change will most likely not affect rising seniors, for they will be done with testing by then. Many college guidance counselors, however, are advising rising sophomores and juniors against taking the new SAT, and are instead encouraging them to take the ACT, or to finish with SAT testing before March. It is a bit risky to take the new SAT in March because most people do not know what to expect or how to prepare for it. The College Board released one book with new practice tests, but it is still difficult to gauge exactly what the new test will be like.
Many students opt to have a tutor guide them through the standardized test study process. The greatest advantage to this approach is that you can learn the tips and tricks behind answering many of the multiple choice questions correctly. Additionally, it is a great benefit to have somebody to force you to actually get the study work done. There are also SAT and ACT preparation courses offered after school at many of the local yeshivas.
Once the studying is complete, though often it feels as though it never is, you must sign up for a test date (or two or three, depending on how motivated you feel). There is one SAT and one ACT test weekend most months from September through June. The majority of the country takes the test on the Saturday of that weekend, but some places do offer it on Sunday. The tri-state area in particular has numerous Sunday testing centers for students who cannot take the test on Saturday. The college guidance departments at each yeshiva have “Shabbat Letters,” which gives the student permission to take the test on Sunday for religious reasons. It is imperative that this letter be sent in with the registration for the first test that you sign up for, because, otherwise, you will be registered for a Saturday test date.
By the middle or end of 11th grade, it is time to start thinking about specific colleges. A good way to start creating a list is to pick a geographical area in which you would like to go to school. The internet is quite a helpful tool to do research about the types of students that each college attracts. Most college websites also have a range of standardized test scores and high school GPAs that they will accept. Even if you do not fit into the average range, do not be discouraged. Many schools will accept a number of students below their average scores, but you should be prepared to look at other schools as well.
After you have compiled a list of possibilities, you can start visiting college campuses. You can usually sign up for a tour online or by calling the college. Tours usually last about an hour or two and give you a feel about what life on that campus is really like. You get to see the dorms, the libraries, the classrooms, and so much more. If you are seriously considering applying to a specific college, it is beneficial for you to visit. A visit not only allows you to see the school, but it also gives you an upper hand in admission to that school. Colleges track their applicants’ interest in their school. If they see that an applicant has visited their campus, spoken to their admissions counselors, or done other types of research on the college, they are more likely to accept that applicant over someone who shows no real interest in the college. “In order to ensure that you miss as few classes as possible during the critical grading period of the fall semester, you should schedule your college visits for vacation time,” Mrs. Mallin, the Ma’ayanot college guidance counselor, wrote in an email to the Ma’ayanot senior class.
In addition to submitting the written application, some colleges also may recommend or require all of their applicants to have an interview. To prepare for this interview, it is important that you do research on the college. Use the college’s website to find some classes that you have an interest in or some professors that you would like to have. Talk to some current students or alumni to get a better feel for the school so that you can be prepared to share why you would like to attend that particular school and what your presence can contribute to the institution.
Most colleges are part of the Common Application. The ‘common app’ is an online site which allows applicants to fill out information such as extracurricular activities, grades, and standardized test scores only once and have that information sent to all the colleges which the student is applying to. The common app also requires a personal essay. This essay takes a lot of time and thought, but once you come up with a good idea, sometimes the rest of the essay just flows. The essay should reflect your personality, personal experiences, and writing style. You can try to make a list of a few ideas and begin to write short essays for each of them before deciding on a final topic.
Once you have narrowed your list of potential colleges and completed your common application essay, you must get started on the supplement essays for each school that you are applying to. One of the best times to begin writing the essays is the summer before senior year. The essays take a lot of time and thought, so getting them done before the school year starts is ideal. That way, once the applications are due in the early to mid winter, you will not be rushing to finish. Before submitting any essays to colleges, also make sure that they are edited and proofread numerous times to catch any typos or grammatical mistakes.
Finally, you must decide whether or not to apply for early decision. Early decision means you are basically signing a contract that if you get accepted, you will attend the school to which you applied early. If you are on the fence about a specific school or do not know if the financial aid package they are willing to offer is good for you, it is not worth it to apply early decision. For more selective schools however, you probably have a better chance of being accepted if you apply early decision.
When all of the testing, visits and writing is complete, all you have left to do is compile the pieces of the application and submit it to colleges. And then you wait for a response.
By Shana Adler
