Hey Class of 2022! Here’s Part 2 of my August Rant that I promised you!
TWO QUICK POINTERS before I begin:
#1. If you’ve not gotten started on your first (of two, if you follow my advice) College Essay, find and read my August Part One Rant (sent July 31) for tips and pointers to get you going.
Every year on August 1st a brand spanking new Common Application comes out, and that means that you can – and should – access, register for free, and – wonder of wonders – begin filling out what will become (for many if not all of your colleges) your bona fide, actual college application!!!
So join in my excitement and go to this web site:
and click on the “start your application” link, hit the “First Year Student” button, follow directions to create your account and get your college applications started!
Note that you need to include at least one number, letters (one capital, one lower case) and a symbol (!@#$%^&*) in your ten to thirty-two (really?!!) character password. Make sure you write down your password (and don’t be too cute – you don’t want to lose it!).
After you’re registered go to the “College Search” link and type in the name – or partial name – of a college from your top 10 list and hit “search”. You don’t need to fill in every blank – takes too long – just a partial name and you’ll be able to locate your school.
Click the box next to your college and then click “Add”.
Do this for every school on your list (don’t be exclusive at this stage – you can add and remove schools freely over the next five months) and then go to your ‘Dashboard’ and voila, there’s your college list!
Now begin filling out your Common Application. The sections are: “Profile” “Family” “Education” “Testing” “Activities” and “Writing”.
So there you have your next assignment: register for the Common Application and then fill out the “Profile”, “Family”, “Education”, “Testing” and “Activities” sections of the common application! This is exciting!!! You’re really doing it!!!!!!
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Remember from my last rant that this is a great time to be writing your first and your second (extra…additional…icing on the cake…one for the Gipper) essays. You also should have (or be constructing) an academic / activity resume which you’ll find multiple uses for. Those of you who’ve met with me have a template to follow. If you’ve not met with me – what are you waiting for?!! – contact me and I’ll share said template with you.
If any of the above has you confused, if you’re still struggling to get going on your essays, resume, or list of colleges, give me a call or email and we’ll chat. This time of year I’m about helping students organize their ‘to do’ list for the remainder of the summer and the fall.
And remember to relax, it’s summer vacation fer cryin’ out loud! Keep safe and sane and enjoy yourself!
From Gary, the College Guy
P.S. As always, feel free to forward this email to other rising seniors and their parents, or send me names/email addresses of folks whom you think would benefit from reading my rants. Or you can refer your friends to my web page, which has all my rants for anyone to see. IMHO there’s not enough good, coherent information out there, and you’ve just waded through about the best there is!
P.P.S. If you’d rather not receive my College Guy Rants, let me know, and you won’t!
Toodle-oo!
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