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How do I successfully apply to college?

college applications #college #career #graduate

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Danielle’s Answer

Hi Madelyn!


Great question! Depending on what grade you're currently in, you may have a few things to do to prepare to apply for college. I have included some helpful steps below in the to-do list. I ran out of space on the to-do list, so I have included the last step here. Good luck!


  1. You will also need to prepare to complete the federal financial aid application if you want to see whether you qualify for student aid from the federal government and the college/university. Keep in mind that federal aid comes in a variety of forms including grants (which don't have to be repaid) and loans (which must be repaid). You can submit the federal financial aid application here https://fafsa.ed.gov/. There are deadlines associated with when to file and you will need your parent/guardian's tax return information. Research the website to gather more information.

Danielle recommends the following next steps:

You will need to meet with your school's guidance counselor to make sure your coursework and other high school graduation requirements are on track.
You will need to take college admission tests like the SAT and/or ACT. When I was in high school, I started taking these tests during my sophomore year to increase my chances at getting a better score.
If you have community service requirements, you will need to complete those as well.
Start researching what colleges and universities you are interested in attending. Specifically see who offers the degree program that you're interested in pursuing and find out what the school's admission requirements are.
Once you've decided on which school(s) to apply to, complete their application (most are done online these days). Their websites should provide a checklist of all required documents that you will be required to submit before your application is considered for admission.
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Ken’s Answer

Working with your school adviser and counseling staff, you should be able to successfully apply with their help. Also, I would clarify successfully applying to mean that you are applying for a college that would be suited for your career/job aspirations. Getting to know yourself well enough to determine which career areas are best suited for your personality traits would make your application process and your education/career journey most successful.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. You can also talk to them about their college application processes and learn from them helpful information to make your application process most successful Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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