By: Adrian Wilson-Gardner

          For the class of 2025, it's finally the season to start applying to colleges. For a lot of us, this can seem like the most stressful time of your entire highschool career. The application process can be highly confusing, especially if you know next to nothing about it. But not to worry, here I’ve composed all the basic information you need to know.

1. Creating your Common App account

          So what is the Common App? You might've heard of it, or you may have no idea what it is! Either way it's okay because I’m here to give you a break down. The common app is essentially an application platform  for undergraduate admission to more than 1,000 member universities, community colleges, and colleges of higher learning.  The common app allows you to apply to schools across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada, Australia, China, Japan, and many European countries. It’s important to create your account early and fill in your basic information that is essential for the places you are applying to. This includes family, education, testing scores, activities, and writing (your essays). 

          You can create an account through this link: https://www.commonapp.org/ . 

I highly recommend you create a separate email for your common app, this is for organization purposes and avoiding it getting lumped in with the other clutter in your regular inbox.  

2. Creating your College List

          As you may know, a key part of the application process is composing a list of all the universities, colleges, etc. you are applying to. During this process, it is crucial that you do your research and you aren't just throwing random schools on your list. You need to take into account how YOU will fit in within their campus, and if you have decent chances of getting in (remember applications cost money!). The recommended way of structuring your list is splitting it into 3 parts: safeties, targets, and reaches. 

Safeties will be the schools that you have an extremely good chance of gaining admission to, typically they have above an 80% acceptance rate. These schools are a must on your list as they will act as a cushion to fall back on if all attempts at other schools backfire. 

          Target schools are the ones where your academic credentials ( grades, test scores, and class rank) fit within the average range of the previously accepted class. In simple terms, the schools that hold students that are very similar to you. While acceptance to multiple target schools is not a given, it is reasonable to expect to be accepted into them if students like you have been accepted before. The acceptance rate varies for target schools as it's entirely dependent on your profile but you can expect for them to fall between 25%-50%.

          Reach schools are colleges or universities that you might find challenging to get into based on the acceptance rates or resume you currently have from high school. Reach schools are usually more elite colleges with acceptance rates of no more than 20 or 30 percent. These schools are not necessary when creating your list as most people would not want to deal with such high competitiveness. However, it never hurts to apply to a few reaches! You never know what will catch the attention of admissions officers in your application that will set you apart from the competition.

3. Writing your Personal Statement (Your “College Essay”)

          Last but certainly not least, a significant part (if not one of the most) of your application is your personal essay otherwise known as your personal statement. Your personal statement is a brief essay that you send to a college or university along with other application materials. Undergraduate applications typically include personal statements, which are excellent ways for admissions committees to directly hear from you. It is important you give yourself PLENTY of time to write this essay, it's arguably one of the most important you will ever write in your life. It is an essay about everything about YOU. Admissions officers will read every last word so it's an essential component needed by them in determining whether or not you will fit in with the upcoming class.

          The common app offers seven prompts for you to choose from when crafting your essay. Make sure to outline the idea of what you want your essay to be about well before you begin writing it. Also try to find at least three people to read over your essay before you submit it, it's important to get extra eyes on it in case you aren't getting your intended message across. Keep your editors/reviewers to at least three people maximum, there is such a thing as over editing and it can lead to drowning out your own voice in your writing. I recommend a friend, counselor, and a teacher. Try to avoid family. 

          Last and most importantly, do NOT turn in the very first draft of your writing. I promise you that you will need to edit and revise a lot.  🐾