College Advice
Hey! Recently committed senior Simona Lewis here. As the oldest child in my immediate family, I’m the first to apply to college. I went into this process pretty blind and clueless and I’m sure many of you are. And that’s ok! I genuinely had no clue what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, or even which coast I wanted to be on. Frankly, I’m still pretty torn! But that’s not the point. Here’s some college process advice from me, a student who just went through the process!
Don’t compare yourself to others. This is really hard, but I really encourage you to look at schools that stand out to you or come through your filter on Scoir, not based on schools you’ve just heard of or hear your friends talking about.
Do virtual tours! Of course if things are back to normal in the fall and you can tour in person, I highly recommend that. Regardless though, I think the virtual tours are a great place to start. You really get a vibe from the campus and they can be pretty informative too!
What to do about test scores? From the (many) presentations that I went to, the rule of thumb seems to be (if the school is test optional) don’t submit unless you’re above their average or near the upper end of it. If a school requires testing, of course you have to submit the test. But otherwise, I think that’s a fair rule to abide by. I ended up applying without testing to all schools and still got good results, so don’t worry about not submitting a test to a test optional school.
Make a calendar or a checklist with due dates for your applications; you may also want to put virtual events (or in person ones) on here too to keep everything in the same place. It’s super satisfying to check things off and this will definitely help you stay organized!
Regarding your common app essay, be honest. It’s hard to try to be interesting on purpose but everyone has at least one interest that can catch a college’s eye! I initially wanted to tell the story about Camp Newman burning down, but in all honesty I’ve grown to a point that I don’t feel like that has a super significant impact on who I am at this point. Even if your hobby is something pretty common, if you have an interesting and impactful story that’s specific, use that story. But also, follow your gut. I was initially going to write my common app essay about theater but something didn’t feel right. As much as I love theater, I didn’t feel like that properly captured who I am. I ended up changing my topic to online Survivor games which inspired me to completely change my Keystone direction, too! (Check out my podcast about reality TV! Yes, shameless plug.)
Don’t put pressure on yourself to feel a certain way about different schools. When I visited some campuses this spring, I really wanted to have a gut feeling that would clearly signify where I wanted to go but in all honesty, I didn’t have that at all. For me, I figured it out by continuing to weigh all my options and there was one school that I kept thinking more about and wanting to research more and that’s where I’m going.
Utilize JCHS alumni! At two of the schools I visited this spring, JCHS alumni gave me insider tours! These connections were super helpful and I found it really compelling to hear about the transition to the college from JCHS specifically.
Ok, I think I may have run out of advice. But (of course) I highly encourage you to use Ms. Cook as a resource as often as you need her. If you’re really having trouble deciding I’d say flip a coin. If you’re happy with how the coin flip went, go to that school! If you’re unhappy, you probably prefer the other school - that’s definitely a good gut check. If you have specific questions about my experience you can definitely email me (slewis2021@jchsofthebay.org) but Ms. Cook is definitely the expert here! Good luck!
