这个

As high school winds down for the Class of 2016, we reflect on all the memorable aspects of senior year -- including the daunting college application process. Graduating senior Karen Yang offers some tips and advice to Dulles underclassmen in order to help appease the stress of applying to college.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             What criteria did you use/ do you suggest using when narrowing down which colleges to apply to?

 

Most of the colleges I applied to I had visited previously, so I only applied to colleges that I knew I would be happy attending if I got in. Always apply to a few “safety schools” or schools you are fairly certain you will get into and “reach schools” or dream schools. Take advantage of schools that have Early Action or Early Decision options and applying to one of your dream schools through those programs. Also, other important things when looking at which schools to apply to is to consider if you want to go to a public or private and the city the school is located in. For me, I knew that I wanted to go to a smaller school that provided a liberal arts education. When I visited the east coast for the first time back in middle school, I fell in love with its vibrancy and history, so I dreamed of studying there.

 

 

What are some things that underclassmen should be doing their high school career to best maximize his or her college planning?

 

I think the best advice I can give for this is finding something in school that you love. Whether it be a club or extracurricular activity, realizing your niche in high school will not only be a great addition to your resume but you will love what you do and will therefore put more time and dedication into that activity. For me, art was where I felt at home. I poured countless hours into my pieces as well as the National Art Honor Society, and I was able to highlight my dedication to and enjoyment of art in my college applications and interviews.

 

 

How large of a role did visiting college campuses play in actually picking the university you decided to attend?

 

Visiting college campuses was definitely the deciding factor for me. When you visit a campus, I think the most valuable information you can get is from talking to current students and potential students in your class. You can then ask yourself if you could see yourself being friends and classmates with these people. And a piece of advice that I got that was really interesting was to look at the upperclassmen at the college and ask yourself if that is how you want to be in the future. Through talking to a ton of students, I was able to gain a sense of the student life and culture to really figure out which school I would fit best in. After visiting schools on the east and west coast, I realized that I actually preferred the scholarly, historic architecture of the east coast.

 

 

How did you finally decide on committing to Harvard even with the other great options you had? What advice would you give to others who might experience a similar situation?

 

To be completely honest, I just went with my gut. After visiting MIT, Stanford, and Harvard, I ultimately narrowed it down to Stanford and Harvard. The night of decision day, I remember making many pros and cons lists for each of the schools and trying to use logic to reason out which school was better. I considered weather, cost of attendance (which was the same for both schools), how good my major was at each school, student life, location and more. I also remember just feeling so frustrated because Stanford seemed like the perfect school with perfect weather, but something in my heart was still pulling me towards Harvard. I know this is a very cliché answer, but I honestly don’t think you can go wrong with just following with your gut.

 

What are some of the most valuable tips you have on applying to colleges and the college application process as a whole?

 

1) Start early. Start the summer before senior year because once school starts, you won’t have time to work on applications. I know everyone thinks that senior year is a blow off but first semester senior year is just like junior year – if not, worse. I had a good chunk of my applications completed before senior year started and that gave me plenty of time to talk to teachers and my counselor about recommendations and revise my essays.

2) This leads into my second piece of advice – build strong relationships with your teachers. When I talked to my admissions officer from Harvard, she said that she was really impressed by what my teachers and interviewer had to say. Making sure you ask the right teachers who can really support and boost your application I think is crucial to sealing the deal. If you are unsure about which teachers to ask/write good recommendations, don’t be afraid to ask upperclassmen for advice.

3) Write good essays that aren’t overdone and make sure you have people proofread it, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

4) Lastly, just relax and breathe. This process isn’t as scary as it seems, and it honestly doesn’t matter which college you end up at because your college experience is what you make of it and the attitude you have going into it. Best of luck :)