Applying to colleges is not at all easy. It is a long process where you have to go through different phases before you actually get accepted and decide to join a college. Here, I will try to give you a brief idea of college application- a journey from the start to the end. Please note that, I will be talking about applying to colleges in the United States- I do not have much idea of applying to colleges elsewhere in the world.1. Find Colleges:
First of all, you will need to find colleges to apply. In the process, you will have to select few colleges from thousands of colleges. Most important things to look for a college are location (rural/city, close from home/far from home, climate), subject choices offered by the college, food and housing options, financial aid, size of college (some prefer small colleges to bigger ones, some prefer the opposite), reputation and education standards, teaching staffs and of course your own personal criteria. So, you search for colleges until you find your matches. Then you make a list of your colleges to apply. The list should have around 7-15 colleges in general and a maximum of 20 colleges if you apply via Common Application. After you have completed the list you are done with the first step of College application.
2. Take Standardized Tests.
Many colleges in the US require the applicants to take the Standardized tests. So you should take the tests if you plan to apply to the States. The tests include SAT Reasoning Test (SAT I), SAT Subject Test (Sat II), ACT, and TOEFL (for international students). Try taking the tests early so that you will have plenty of time to send the scores to the colleges and you could even retake the tests if you are not satisfied with you scores. Most colleges take the best scores of each section from your more than 1 SAT I scores. Some colleges have decided not to use the SAT scores if the score does not reflect the applicants academic potential. So the applicant may or may not send the scores to those colleges. However, the colleges not requiring SAT scores are few in number.
3. Write your Personal Essay.
Essay is considered as one of the most important part of your application. The college expects you to show who you are through the essay. The essay should be well written and free from grammatical errors, it should be true, clear and close to world limits and it should reflect your personality. So, take your time to write your essay and it's better if you start it early. When the essay is complete, ask your friends or family to proof read your work to make sure it does not contain errors. After you have completed it, you are ready for the next step.
4. Complete the Common Application.
These days, almost every college accepts the Common Application. Your education, extracurricular activities, family, writing sections, counselor's section, school reports, teacher's recommendation are the different sections you will need to fill to complete the application. Make sure you ask your counselor and teacher to fill the Common application long before the deadline because it takes time to complete their sections. The application can be submitted online via commonapp.org or you can mail the hard copy to the colleges. Make sure you watch the deadlines of your colleges and don't miss them. Colleges will not consider the application submitted after the deadlines.
5. Submit supplementary documents:
After you have submitted the Common Application it's time to send other supplementary documents. These include financial aid documents, specific college supplements essays and test scores. Also, don't forget to check the application checklist of your colleges and see if the college have any other special requirements.
6. Wait for the results
After you have submitted Common Application, SAT scores, financial aid documents and any other required supplementary documents, you successfully have completed your part of College Application. Now, all you need to do is to wait for the results. Make sure that you complete the required steps for all the colleges in your list. Different colleges and different plans like Early Decision, Early Decision 2, Regular Decision have different deadlines. So, while you are waiting for a admission decision of a college you may be applying to other colleges.
7. Accept a college
When all of your colleges send you their admission decision, it's time to decide and accept to join a college. You generally have until May 1st till you make your decision. After you have decided on a college, you will need to pay the enrollment fee to confirm that you will be joining the college. And with this step, your College Application is complete and it's time to get ready for college life.
