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How do you make applying for colleges less stressful?

It's the summer before senior year starts and my parents have been on me about applying all summer. However, its hard to know where to start and its so overwhelming. How can you make it easier? #college

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Ken’s Answer

The most important thing is to get to know yourself well enough to have a career focus. Then you can talk to people involved in your career area to determine what path to follow based upon their input and advice.


Also, it really does not matter where you to to school. What really matters is how well you do in school and how well you do in person face to face networking with people involve in your career area. Here is a video presented by a person who used to work for Stanford University relating the fact that it really does not matter where you go to school. This would be helpful for you and your parents to watch:


http://www.ted.com/talks/julie_lythcott_haims_how_to_raise_successful_kids_without_over_parenting?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=talk&utm_term=education

Ken recommends the following next steps:

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. 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 ##
Also, here are some tips on reducing college costs, which should be important to you and your family ## http://www.educationplanner.org/students/paying-for-school/ways-to-pay/reduce-college-costs.shtml
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.
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 .
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Adria’s Answer

Get with your counselor if you are in high school or visit a college. If you know what you want to study, pick your top 3 schools you feel will be best for what you want to do. You can do online searches and talk to their advisors as well. Take time to make it a priority.

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Nicole’s Answer

Hi Emma M. I see that you posted this question a little while ago so I hope my answer to you (or others who may read this response) is still helpful.

As I read this question, I focused on "my parents have been on me about applying all summer". One piece of feedback I will share...procrastination can be a HUGE source of stress. Sounds corny but...the longer you wait to complete something you need, the worse it may become because oftentimes you know that you need to get it done and you sometimes get this nagging feeling. I understand that sometimes the hardest part is getting started. When I have had troubles getting started on something or getting motivated to start something, one of the first things I do is make space for that task. Specifically, I set myself up to have anywhere from 1-3 hours to just focus on **starting** that task. So my initial focus isn't on finishing it but starting it. Once I get my start, then I give myself additional time, maybe put myself on a little schedule, to add to what I started. There is some discipline that is involved in staying on task and on schedule but it can be done and this is a process I used when I was filling out many, many college applications.

I hope you find this suggestion helpful and best of luck to you!
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