Fifteen Things You Can Do To Help You Get To College
Ramsay Campbell
Before you do anything, you should always ask someone if you are in the right direction. Hudson High School has an amazing staff of teachers, counselors, and administrators that will help you with anything you need. Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed with everything you need to do- just ask for help. There is always someone here to help you!
This is one of the most important things you could possibly do in your entire life. Being organized will not only help you get to college, but also help you in high school and your future careers. Keep different notebooks for every subject, keep all of your pens and pencils in a pouch, realize sticky notes are amazing, clean out your backpack and locker, and make sure you write down everything! No college or employer wants a person who can’t keep up with due dates and important documents.
- Make Lists or Keep a Calendar
Along with being organized, keeping lists or a calendar of important dates, assignment due dates, and everyday tasks can give you a physical representation of what needs to be done and when. This will help any student with the overwhelming task of keeping up with everything that must be done.
Every student should “do their fair share” in their high school career. Colleges and future employers love to see you were active in clubs, volunteer work, and extracurricular activities. Being a part of your high school and community shows that you are a “go getter” and can only help you in the future. Plus, being involved can be a very rewarding experience and a lot of fun.
- Figure Out What You Are Good at and Interested In
This might be the hardest thing for any student to do in their life: figure out what they should do. While it might be hard to realize what you want to do with your life, it is a necessary step to going to colleges. This is why you need to take electives in all the different departments. These classes will help you realize what your strengths and weaknesses are, which is vital to choosing a career path. Involvement in clubs can help “mold” your interests, similar to elective courses. If you really have no idea, an aptitude test could be helpful.
Always shoot for the moon! You don’t need to be so afraid of failure that you miss your opportunities. Make large goals and work as hard as you can to meet them. Even if you don’t make your goals, you will make a better future for yourself than if you had not made high goals.
- Take Some Kind of AP Class or Advanced Class
Advanced classes and AP classes are not only for “geniuses,” they are designed to help students prepare themselves for college classes. They do require you to learn at a faster pace and do more work than a regular class, but the experience of taking the class is worth it. These classes teach you how to study, read a textbook, take tests, meet deadlines, and push yourself to do better- all very important things for college and future careers.
Yes, you HAVE to study! While colleges look at your personality, volunteer and extracurricular activities, and how you do in your interview, they also look at your grades. They want to see good grades on your transcripts, standardized tests, and SAT or ACT. You can’t make your way into college on a pretty face or athletic ability alone, you have to have the grades to go with it, so study!
Do not make the mistake of brushing off the PSAT. This is an important test that prepares you for the SAT, which is one of the tests that you must take to get into college. Just because you are told you “don’t have to take it” and a bad grade “doesn’t mean anything” does not mean you should blow it off. Bad scores could prevent you from your dream school and great scores could get you scholarships, so think about that before you blow off the PSAT.
Take the SAT or ACT junior year. When you take the SAT or ACT as a junior, you are guaranteeing that you will have a second chance to take them if you need to. These are not easy or short tests, so take practice tests, study, and be prepared.
Soft skills are, “desirable qualities for certain forms of employment that do not depend on acquired knowledge: they include common sense, the ability to deal with people, and a positive flexible attitude.” You will need these the rest of your life. Soft skills will help you in interviews for scholarships, colleges, and jobs. Start now by learning how to shake a person’s hand, have an intelligent conversation, and be a productive and personable person.
Don’t get in trouble. Don’t go partying and drinking and post inappropriate things on your social media. Colleges and scholarship committees can and will look you up before admitting you to their college or granting you a scholarship. When you steer clear of trouble, it shows colleges you have common sense and will not be a problem in the future.
You should always research colleges. Start your research early, you don’t want to be a senior and still not know where you are planning to go to school. Start looking up what schools fit your degree plan and personality. Make sure you know everything about the college or university you want to go to before applying.
FASFA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is a form that determines if you are eligible for government assisted financial aid. This program has helped many students afford going to college without having to take out loans. Even if you don’t think you will qualify, apply anyway, because you never know what financial aid you may be able to recieve.
- Relax, You Will Get There
Doing all of these things is terrifying and overwhelming, but every student needs to remember that millions of seniors around the world have done these things and made it. You can make it too! Do not let yourself be so overwhelmed and stressed that it gets in the way of your dreams.
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