A Reflection on the College Process
Sophie Fleysher, ‘20
May 2020
The following is just based on my own personal experience. Make sure to check with your CTO advisor or any other trusted guidance figure prior to making any big decisions.
May 1st was National College Decision Day. The day where high school seniors decided where they will be spending the next few years of their life. This day looked incredibly different this year with many colleges pushing back deadlines and students being unable to celebrate in person, all thanks to the havoc wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the general sentiment remains. High school seniors are finished with the college process.
The baton has been passed to the juniors. So, to you Year 1s out there, welcome to the next year of your life, one which will consist of the highest highs and the lowest lows. In the end, however, everything will work out. To the ninth and tenth graders, here’s a look ahead, your turn will come sooner than you know it.
This process pushed me well beyond the limits I thought I had. It forced me to think deeply about who I am as a person (shoutout to that personal statement), what I wanted and needed (figuring out what schools to apply to), and my skills as a writer (all those supplemental essays) even though I’ll be a mathematics major.
I want to pass along what I’ve learned to all of the students who will go through the exact same thing within the next few years. I hope this puts you at ease a bit, while also helping you understand what it’s like. A lot of the points I’m going to bring up may sound familiar, but I want to stress their importance. I was told these things so many times but always brushed them off. Going through the process made me realize that they are actually very helpful to remember.
You are more than just a number (or numbers). You hear this all the time, but it’s hard to believe that it’s true. Just because the person sitting next to you has a 1600 SAT score, a 4.0 GPA, and 800s on a couple of Subject Tests doesn’t necessarily make them a better candidate for any college than you are. Having extracurricular activities, and being able to write/speak about them is just as important.
Use the resources at BHSEC. The writing center is a lifesaver. So is your CTO advisor. Every single word I wrote for every college I applied to was read by both Ms. Randall and my advisor. They helped me make sure that my personality shone through my writing while also keeping it professional, high quality, and related to addressing the prompt.
Use the summer before Year 2 to your advantage. This time is oftentimes (but not always) used for that big internship or activity that will be the shining star on your resume, but there’s more to it than that. It’s a time to create and/or finalize your college list, write a couple of drafts of your personal statement, and start thinking about the prompts that you will have to respond to.
Apply Early Action. This point goes along with the previous one. I made a conscious decision to apply Early Action to every school on my list that offered it. I think that is what helped me stay sane throughout the entirety of the process since I had no choice but to split up my work throughout the fall and couldn’t procrastinate all of my supplements until December. There are so many benefits to Early Action. You have a higher chance of getting in, will likely receive more merit scholarships (if the school offers them), and you can divvy up the stress so it’s not as bad. Of course, this only works if you use the summer to finalize your list and start drafting the essay and supplements. This also doesn’t apply to people who apply Early Decision or Restrictive Early Action.
Make deals with yourself. This one stems from the previous point as well. Applying EA likely means that you will hear back from the school before Regular Decisions are due, and sometimes before you even start writing supplements for them. I, like most people, had a couple of safety schools on my list. Two of them were EA and one other was RD. I was accepted to one of the EA schools in mid-November and knew that I’d go to that one over the RD one, so I simply didn’t end up applying to the latter. I also did this with my match schools, and in the end, it saved me from writing 5 supplements and spending $150.
Do a lot of research. I would definitely recommend visiting as many schools as you can or going to the talks that admissions counselors give across the country, but I know that this is impossible due to the pandemic. In place of this, take the virtual tours and dive deeply into schools’ websites to really get an understanding of what life would be like there. Doing that led me to find a degree program that I knew would fit me really well. I then toured campus and fell in love with the school, and now I’ll be attending in the fall! None of this would’ve happened if I didn’t take the time to go through their website and read so much on it.
Those are the biggest things that I would say to anyone who is about to embark on this college journey or will in the next few years. It’s a lot of hard work and can get stressful at times, but it is important to remember that it will be over before you know it and that there’s more to life than just the school you spend your undergraduate years at.
If you have any questions about anything, feel free to reach out to me through social media or email (sf872m@bhsec.bard.edu), I’d be happy to offer my own perspective.