As the final bell rang on the last day of exams, most students breathed a sigh of relief and relished in having completed another year of high school. For rising seniors, however, the last day of school was marked with preparation for the next step of their high school journey: college applications.
Each year, guidance counselors lead a series of workshops called “Jump Start” to help students tackle the college admissions process. This year, Jump Start workshops began particularly early due to changes in The Common Application, the application platform used by more than 600 colleges and universities. In the past, students could not create accounts until August 1, but starting this year, all accounts created roll-over to the 2016-2017 school year, enabling students to begin, or even complete, their applications over the summer.
In addition to reviewing the Common Application, guidance counselor Mrs. Sharon Bikoundou discussed The Coalition Application, a new platform used exclusively by schools such as The University of Florida, The University of Maryland, College Park and The University of Washington, Seattle. While the Coalition Application personal essay prompts are similar in nature to those of The Common Application, the platform contains a new “locker” feature where students can upload awards or documents such as research papers or projects. Seeing as The Coalition Application is new to the 2016-2017 school year, exactly how colleges will evaluate the new application is still unknown. That said, the guidance department suggests that students exercise caution and use The Common Application if the schools they are applying to accept it.
“Unfortunately, you guys are the guinea pigs here. We’re not sure how colleges are going to evaluate new features such as the locker, but really, the colleges are just as new to this process as us,” Mrs. Bikoundou said.
After presenting application forms, guidance counselor Mr. Erik McLeod walked students through the key aspects of writing both personal essays and college-specific supplemental essays. Mr. McLeod emphasized avoiding cliches and finding “your voice,” referencing to multiple pieces of advice from admissions officers at Furman University and Vanderbilt University. In addition, he stressed the importance of completing essays early, giving counselors adequate time to make comments and suggestions.
“Sometimes, students send me essays to edit at 11 p.m. the night before their application is due, and I’ll just let it sit in my inbox,” Mr. McLeod said.
At the conclusion of Jump Start, students had a few minutes to brainstorm ideas for their personal essays and discuss as a group the strengths and weaknesses of particular ideas.
While the workshop was just the beginning of the Jump Start process, the pre-summer seminar gave students the opportunity to, pun intended, get a jump start on their college applications and ensure they maximize their success in the college admissions process.
