Five considerations before making a last-minute decision

It’s the final few days before seniors have to make May 1st decisions and deposits. (If, for whatever reason, you’re looking for colleges still open for applications, check out NACAC’s list; it’s updated daily.)

While many have already made their final decision, many others are still trying to figure it all out. Every year I talk with students and families going through the last-minute decision process. Usually, the final decision is tough to make because a student is choosing between a few very good, but very different, options. I can’t make the decision any easier for you, but I can perhaps help you be more self-aware of the issues holding you up. Here are five things to consider as you’re making that last-minute decision.

What information do you wish you had to make this an easier choice? If there are basic facts to look up, you’ve probably already looked them up. The other questions don’t have clear answers, but it’s helpful to name them anyway. Take the buzzy anxiety out of your head and write it down in clear questions. Will I be able to find a job easily once I graduate? Will I find a strong social group easily at college? Will my family’s finances change and make a barely-affordable choice completely unaffordable? How will I handle this large transition? What environment will be the healthiest for me? How big a risk is too big? These are the types of big-picture questions I see students wrestling with when they’re struggling to make a decision. Name those questions and make sure you understand where your indecision is coming from.

Understand the difference in cost. If the colleges you’re considering have significantly different costs, take time to understand that difference. Why do they have different prices? Why do you think the more expensive one might be worth the extra cost? If you take the less expensive one, what will be done with the savings? If loans are involved, how much will the total cost of those loans (loan amount plus interest over time) be?

Understand the difference between reason and emotion. What are the rational reasons for attending any of the colleges you’re still considering? What are the emotional temptations pulling you towards them? Which seems the safer choice, and which feels more risky? How do you normally make decisions: with a pro/com list, or with a gut feeling? There’s nothing that says you have to go with the more reasonable, disciplined approach, and there’s nothing that says you should throw caution to the wind and go with instinct. Ideally, you will find the right balance of the two. But first it really helps to separate the logic from the emotions as best as you can.

Explain your decision before making it. For each of the schools you’re still considering, whether two or 10, write this sentence for each: “I’ve chosen to go to _____, because _____. I was also considering _____, but _____.” Don’t let your explanations be vague or long-winded. Write them down in clear sentences. And then read those sentences aloud, a lot, to multiple people, and see what resonates.

Don’t look back. Once you’ve chosen, be done with it and forget about the others. Make your deposit, and make a housing deposit. Go online and buy a school sweatshirt. Throw out or give away any t-shirts or materials from the others you were considering. Tell everyone you know where you’re going. Start looking for a roommate. Immerse yourself in planning for the fall—go to the website, read all the materials they send, mark your calendar. The sentence you used to explain your choice? Use it a lot.

After May 1st, the relative advantages and disadvantages of those other schools won’t disappear. You can spend the summer making yourself crazy wondering “what if?” You may start to wonder if it’s really too late to change your mind. You may start to think about transferring after the first year. You may take the difficult decision you make this week and stretch it out for months, not really getting anywhere. The smart thing to do, difficult as it is, is to let go and move on.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   What to do when you get waitlisted

   Don’t pass up a full ride

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

What seniors should do this spring

Dates & Deadlines

AP Exams are May 2-13. The College Board plans, at least right now, to be back at traditional pencil-and-paper exams, given in schools, this year.

You should already know which AP classes you’re taking and which exams you’re likely to take. But seniors are in a weird spot. High school AP Coordinators have to turn in registration materials much earlier than students have decided which exams they want to take. So you have to sign up for AP exams not knowing how they might affect you or if you really want to take them.

For example, if you end up going to a college that doesn’t give credit for AP exams, or will only give credit for a 5 when you’re on track for a 3, then you may not want to bother taking a test that’s not going to benefit you directly. But you usually have to register for the exam long before you know which college you’re going to next year. Here’s the best thing to do: go ahead and register for exams and act as though you’re going to take all of them. Act as though each score of 3 or higher will get you college credit, potentially saving you time and money. If that turns out not be the case, then talk with your teachers and counselor about what to do. Many seniors end up going into the exam room knowing that the exam either doesn’t gain them anything or that they’re not likely to get a good score, and so they go to sleep. While this practice, honestly, is not likely to have personal negative repercussions for you, it may have negative effects for your AP teachers and your school. So be thoughtful about how you handle an exam that you’re neither expecting to get much from or put much into.

Work at being good at high school

It may seem silly to talk about being a good high school student in the spring semester of your senior year, but the fact remains that you're still in high school and there's still more to be done. And yes, I'm very aware of "senioritis." Your parents and teachers may not want me to say it, but slowing down your last semester is completely normal and fine. Because it's true, you're not just a regular high school student any more. On top of your normal classes and activities, you also have a lot of college decisions to make. Many seniors go on more college visits once they get their acceptances and have to make a decision. Your time in high school is just about over. There are often Prom and Senior Trip and Senior Gifts and Senior Pranks to organize. And so it's normal and fine to begin a transition and be less committed.

But think about it this way: how crazy would it be for an athlete to be told she's going to be on the Olympic team, and then stop working out and practicing? How self-destructive would it be for an employee to get a big promotion and then celebrate by not showing up to work half the time and being rude to her team that helped her get the promotion? You're almost out of high school and into college. That's wonderful! Keep acting like a great student.

One way that senioritis works is for students to suddenly take on the "I don't need it to graduate" standard. Even good students find themselves failing classes or dropping their extracurricular activities simply because they don't need them to graduate. If your family has raised you with the bare minimum of parenting required not to get arrested for neglect, and your teachers have only done what was required to not get fired, then the "I don't need it to graduate" attitude is understandable. Otherwise, it's pretty reprehensible. Don't celebrate your transition to adulthood by acting like a toddler. It's that simple.

So what is a more healthy and productive transition? What, if you will, is Good Senioritis? Good Senioritis is the kind that begins to move away from high school realizing that you're moving Up. You act even more like a leader in your extracurriculars to pass your skills along to next year's seniors. You let the adults in your life know you appreciate all they've done to help you get to this new space. Even though you really are tired and stressed, you ask a lot of questions instead of whining or dropping out. Seriously, the last thing your teachers and parents need is for you to tell them how hard it is to be a responsible adult. They know. So ask them for guidance and be honest about your fears.

If you begin to jettison time-wasting school activities, fine. But also think about jettisoning time-wasting activities outside of school. The best way to prepare for college is to be a good high school student. While it's different being a high school student your last semester, you still need to be good at it. 

Choose a college

Most colleges ask for a commitment by May 1, and that’s the standard deadline for accepting or rejecting their admissions offers.  Take a lot of time to think about this. Talk to your family. Talk to your trusted teachers and counselors. Talk to your smart and ambitious friends. Talk to the financial aid offices. You’re not just making a choice about classes and professors, but a big part of your identity. Go back over the Five Foundations, especially the part about treating it like a relationship. Remember that while some schools may be a better fit than others, it’s hard to make the “wrong” choice unless you choose not to go anywhere.

Get financial aid

Most students depend on at least some financial aid to get through college. For most, the final decision about where to go is heavily--if not completely--influenced by financial considerations. Look through your financial aid offers very carefully. Ask a lot of questions. Talk to you family about money, often. Don't be afraid to ask a school for more money.

Make summer plans

What do you need to do to get ready for college? Don't wait until the week before the fall semester to think about clothes for a new environment, bedding for a dorm, and transportation issues. If you've had a sluggish spring and need intellectual stimulation, see what your local museums or community centers offer. If you haven't had a job during high school, now is a good time to get some work experience, even if you don't think you need the money--especially if you don't need the money. It's tempting to treat this summer like a long nap, getting rested and doing very little before school next fall. But this is the best time to get prepared. Wherever you think you need improvement, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, intellectual, or any combination, now is the time.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read What Should I Be Doing Now? for other grades. Spring updates will available for all grades by the end of the week.

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Looking forward to winter break for seniors

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! The first day back from Thanksgiving may seem a little early to be writing about what to do over the winter break that’s still a few weeks away. However, I know many students are already planning for—or at least daydreaming about—their winter break already, so it makes sense to go ahead and start thinking about it a little.

These suggestions are made with seniors in mind, but they’re good advice for anyone with a few weeks off this winter. I’m also assuming a reasonably “normal” December. While a few of the students I work with are still very much in pandemic chaos, most are living relatively normal lives. Not all have been going on college tour trips, but a lot more have than last year (which was zero). Most are vaccinated and schooling in person. At this moment, though, the world is bracing for the Omicron variant and wondering how bad things can be. Please, please be careful out there.

Rest. This sounds obvious--of course you're going to rest. You have several weeks with no school! But for lots of students--and adults--it never quite seems to work this way. You stay up too late, thinking you'll sleep in, and then you have to get up earlier than you expected. Or you spend too much time in bed or on the couch, and you feel sluggish and dumpy. You can only get good rest from your break if you decide that you're actually going to and schedule for it. Decide that you're going to get 8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, and then plan accordingly. The time you spend awake will go much better if you do.

Spend quality time with people. Now is a great time to catch up with friends and family, but, like good sleep, quality time with people is also elusive. You go to parties and gatherings, you have text or Snapchat conversations, you spend a little time with people...and then you realize that you didn't really have any good conversations. Quality Time is usually thought of as time you spend with another person giving them your undivided attention. Schedule some time for this with a few good friends and/or family members.

Re-assess. Now is a great time for reflection and regrouping. Here are several exercises to try to keep that conversation with yourself productive and useful.

Highs and lows. Like a lot of families, at our dinner table we often go around and share our high and low moment of the day with each other. It's a better conversation starter with school-aged kids than "how was your day?" and it reinforces that every day has both the good and the bad. Take some time thinking about--and sharing with someone else--your high and low points over the fall semester and your college quest. What worked? What didn't? What felt good? What felt bad? Consider it all.

Two-month time machine. When evaluating your semester and planning ahead, think about a two-month time machine. If you could go back two months to re-try the fall, what's one thing you really wish you could change? You obviously can't really do it, but it's a good way to think about "lessons learned."

Restate your dreams and aspirations. Take some time and write a personal mission statement for the year, especially if you're a senior and moving on to college next fall. Or if you don't want to be so college-centric but want to spend time thinking about what's really important to you, try the "last-year test" method of thinking about New Year's Resolutions. 

Read. It's really tempting to read nothing--or nothing of merit--over the break. You've read so much over the past few months, so why do it on vacation? The answer is simple: now you get to choose what to read, and you can make engaging your intellect fun for yourself. Besides, if you're ready to concede that the only reason you read or learn is because you're assigned to by authorities, then you may want to re-think the whole college thing. Take back control of your mind by reading something. It doesn't have to be Important Literature if that's not what you like, just choose not to be a mental slacker.

Don't do any more college stuff than you absolutely have to. As contrary as it may sound, you really should use your time as a true break and not college-planning time. If you put things off with the idea that you'd do them over break, that's perfectly normal. But get them done first and with focus. You're not going to send out good applications if you're finishing them a little bit at a time while you also finish gift shopping and meet with friends. Make a plan to finish your college to-do list as quickly as possible into the break. If you have December 15th or January 1st deadlines, get those things sent out first and with focus. There's no good reason to wait until the 14th or 31st to send those out.

Don't expect other people to work over the break just because you do. Virtually every year of my time teaching high school I got at least one over-the-break plea from a student. They wanted one last look at an essay, or a last-minute recommendation sent, or help getting their English grade up a little but before the final grades were turned in. How I responded depended on the nature of the request and the student doing the requesting. Sometimes it really was an unexpected opportunity for a really on-top-of-things student, and I happily did what was asked. Sometimes I put forth a minimal amount of effort to just get along. Often I just said no. But please remember that sending other people things to do over the break feels about as crappy and unfair to them as it would to you if they gave sudden unexpected homework over the break. Don't do it.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Check out three related Apply with Sanity posts:

   “What movies should you watch before going to college?”

   “What are the strongest signs of success?”

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Looking for some seniors who will talk to me

Every year from September to May, Apply with Sanity follows several seniors as they make it through their college application journey. It’s called Meet the Class, and you can read all the posts from the last several years here.

I’m looking for a few college-bound seniors who would like to participate this year.

You would commit to a few things:

Respond to some questions, once a month, about where you are in the process. I ask questions about facts and feelings. You don’t need to spend hours writing pages, but readers really do appreciate full answers.

Respond to a follow-up question now and then.

Continue to respond all year, and respond in a timely manner—I usually send questions at the beginning of the month and publish responses in the middle of the month.

On my end, I’ll promise a few things:

I’ll be respectful of your time and feelings—I’ve got no intentions of being mean or asking hundreds of questions.

I’ll give you anonymity. I’ll use your first name and say what state you’re in, but that’s it. You can even use a fake first name. In the past, some Meet the Class students have provided me a photo, and some haven’t. Either is fine with me.

Does this sound interesting to you? Do have you have any questions or concerns? Are you someone who is not about to start 12th grade, but have questions about the process you’re hoping I’ll ask? Hit the Contact button and send me a message! Let’s show the world what you go through to achieve your college success!

What juniors should be doing this summer

Some high school juniors are already far along in their college admission process. Through personal ambition, pressure from family, high school requirements, or a combination of those, they have a clear sense of where they will apply, why they’ve chosen those colleges and universities, and how to go about it. Many high school juniors will not start thinking about college admission until their senior year begins. But most college-bound juniors are starting their admission season right about now, toward the end of 11th grade. If you’re one of those juniors—or an adult who cares about one of those juniors—then you should check out my post from last week, “What juniors should be doing right now.” Read that first, and then come back to this.

What follows are my recommendations for things you can do this summer to make your fall semester a little easier. It’s not a checklist to do in order, though. Each piece can affect all the other pieces, and you’ll find yourself updating and going through the cycle multiple times.

Go on college visits. You should visit some colleges. I mean this in the broadest sense, though. It doesn’t have to be a weeklong trip with family where you will personally visit three or more colleges that you think you’ll probably end up applying to. That’s great if you can do it, but most families can’t. After campuses shut down last year because of the pandemic, most began offering high-quality online virtual tours (or improved the ones they already had). Take advantage of these to look at schools you’re interested in.

As far as college visits go, you don’t even have to visit schools you’ll be applying to. I’m a big fan of visiting colleges near you just to get a feel for college in general. Tour the large public university nearest you, the small liberal arts college nearest you, and anything in between. I live in Houston, so I encourage people to visit the University of Houston, Rice University, the University of St. Thomas, and Sam Houston State University. You may not be interested in actually attending any of those colleges, but it will quickly and easily give you a sense of the difference between a large public university, a mid-sized regional public university, a private research university, and a small private university. Three of them are centrally located in the heart of Houston, and the other is just over an hour away.

Write and revise a College Mission Statement. Start with the formula “I want to _____ at a _____ college with _____.” For example, “I want to study engineering and/or financial mathematics at a small- to medium-sized university in or near an urban area, preferably not in the Northeast, with an intramural sports program.” Fill in the blanks as thoroughly and honestly as you can. For more on writing a College Mission Statement, start here.

Put together a game plan. You don't need to start on your applications yet, but it helps to have a plan for how you will go about finishing your applications. Here are some questions to ask yourself to get an outline ready for your next semester:

• What personal qualities do you want to project in your application? Examples of the kind of qualities I'm talking about include resilience, passion, intellectual curiosity, initiative, talent, creativity, empathy, and leadership. Think of one or two of your strongest qualities that will be the focal point of your applications. Your essay will center on these qualities, and you'll try your best to arrange for your recommendation letters to center on them.

• What concrete evidence do you have--other than grades and test scores--of those qualities? What stories can you tell that exemplify those qualities? Who can vouch for you when it comes to these qualities?

• What are the primary qualities of a college that will be a good place for you? How, other than by looking at rankings or reputation, will you know when a school is right for you? It helps to have an idea about this before you start looking too closely at individual schools. Knowing if a school has what you want can prove difficult if you don't know what you want. 

• Is there a school for which you think you should apply early? Why?

• What are the major application deadlines? Begin with the general. Early applications are generally due in early November, regular decision applications are generally due in early January. As you build and then narrow down your own college list, you can find more specific deadlines for your schools. How do those fit with the rest of your schedule, both at school and outside of school?

• What are the gaps in your understanding that you need to fill in? It can be quite difficult to know what it is that you don't know, but make sure you've looked through the Common Application as best as you can and identify any major holes in your timeline or knowledge.

Talk to your family about money. By the end of the year, you're going to need to send away paperwork with very detailed and personal financial information, including your parents' tax forms. You're going to decide where the line is between affordable and unaffordable. You're going to to decide how much you and/or your family is willing to borrow for your education. The sooner you begin these difficult conversations, the better. They rarely go well the first time around, so you don't want to wait until the deadline to have the first time around. If your family’s financial circumstances have changed recently through unemployment, depletion of savings, loss of investment value, and/or extra costs associated with the pandemic and lockdown, then you’ll need to revisit your financial discussions often.

Draft some essays. Even if you don’t have a college list ready, you’ve probably got a good idea of the essays you will need to write for your applications. The essay prompts for the Common Application are available. So are the essay prompts for the separate application for public universities in your state, if they have an application separate from the Common Application. Look those over. You can begin working on those now.

Most of the seniors I work with end up having two “big” essays—around 600 words—that they use. Sometimes one gets submitted for the Common Application, and another gets used for scholarship applications or shortened for supplemental questions. When I work with a senior I end up seeing several versions of the same response, at lengths from 150 to 1,000 words, constantly updated and re-used. You can begin those now, even without prompts. In fact, it’s best to begin without thinking about a prompt. Think about your qualities that you want to highlight, the big ideas that excite you, and the stories about yourself that you end up repeating to adults often. If it helps, here are some questions to consider:

• What are you most proud of?

• What do teachers or other adults praise you for?

• How would you explain yourself to a stranger?

• What separates you from your friends at school?

• What gets you intellectually excited? What do you do when you’re excited?

• What’s happened to you in the past three years that has most changed who you are?

• You’ve matured in the past three years—what evidence or stories have you got to show it?

• What’s the most recent un-assigned book you loved?

Narrow down your list of colleges. There are around four thousand colleges and universities in the US to choose from. By then end of your junior year, you want to have that narrowed down to no more than 50. By the beginning of your senior year, you want to have that narrowed down again to about 25. By application time, it will be narrowed down to between four and twelve (for most people), and by May 2022 it will need to be narrowed down to one or two. For each, make sure you do these things:

• Go to the school’s website and sign up to be on their mailing list.

• Look at the school’s web pages for any majors you’re interested in.

• Look over the school’s financial aid and scholarships web pages.

• Try to find the admissions staff assigned to your geographic area. Most schools still divide their admissions staff geographically, and many post that information on their website. You’ll know exactly who is in charge of your application.

• Look up their policy on campus tours. If you sign up for their prospective student mailing list, they’ll let you know if and when it changes.

• Find out if and how they conduct interviews.

• Find and if and how they handle gap year requests.

• If your high school counseling office uses Naviance or similar software, put the college into your college list there so your counselor can see.

• Get the information you need to try out their net price calculator.

Take care of yourself. The junior year is the most difficult for many high school students. You've just finished yours, under some of the most difficult conditions to happen in a long time. You need to prepare for your senior year and college applications, but you don't need to neglect your immediate well-being. Get rest. Read something for pleasure. Have a long talk with an interesting person. Ask some good questions instead of always being the one called on to answer questions. Be a person, and be the healthiest one you can.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are two easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   What are good test scores?

   What’s the right number of colleges to apply to?

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth

What juniors should be doing right now

Most college-bound seniors have now made their final decision and commitment about where they will be next year. (Most. Some are still hoping for a waitlist opening. Some are still navigating financial aid and aren’t sure they’ll end up where they plan to go. Some are deciding late that they want to go to college and are grabbing rolling admissions spots or checking out community college offerings.) That means the clock is really ticking for current juniors, who have approximately 51 weeks to complete their own admissions process. An entire year from now may seem like a long time to get it all done. It may seem like a really short time. Both are true: it’s plenty of time, but it will go by really quick.

Some juniors are already far along the path. Others are just beginning. Wherever you are in the process, there are four things you should do before the end of this school year.

Do your best at school and finish with the best grades possible. Some people will tell you that your junior-year grades are the last ones that count. They’re not right: colleges will ask for grade updates, and it will be conspicuous if you suddenly have less rigorous classes or are getting worse grades. Colleges can, and sometimes do, take back your acceptance if they think you’ve let yourself become too much of a slacker. But they’re not completely wrong, either: senior-year grades will get checked, but they won’t be scrutinized like your transcript for 9th-11th grade. Your GPA and rank at the end of this year are much more likely to be your “official” ones for college admissions purposes, so finish this year as strongly as possible.

Decide if you will take the SAT and/or ACT. I don’t encourage anyone to rush to take one of the tests. Many universities are still temporarily test optional, and many are permanently test optional. It’s very likely you will not need to submit test scores, and there’s no good reason to take the test if you don’t need to submit them. You should base your to-test-or-not-to-test decision on fact and research, not a gut feeling. “I’m sure I’ll be fine without test scores” is not a wise approach, nor is “I have to take the tests, because schools really require them even if they say they don’t require them.” Look at the testing policies for any school you’re interested in. Also check the requirements for any major scholarships and honors programs at those colleges. See how necessary test scores are for you, and proceed from there based on the facts. You can take the tests in the late summer or fall—you don’t have to do that now.

Set up test prep if you think you need it or want it. Don’t sign up for test prep if you’re not really sure you need it. Test prep can help, but not if you’re passive about it. If you’re not going to really work at test prep, then it will be a waste. There are all kinds of ways to get help preparing for the entrance tests. There are classes through the big companies like Princeton Review, Kaplan, and Test Masters. Lots of school districts and local colleges offer test prep. There are private tutors and smaller companies that offer personalized programs. Khan Academy offers free prep, and you can also work independently with a test prep book.

Line up rec letters. Teachers who may write you a letter of recommendation have a long time before they’re due. But don’t wait until the last minute. Don’t even wait until the last month! Find time to have a quick conversation with the teachers who know you best. Let them know that you’ll be requesting an official recommendation from them, and ask them if they have any questions or suggestions. It’s a much easier conversation to have when there’s a lot more time for it. Now is the right time to ask, even if they won’t have it written until much later.

Do some large-sweep online college searches. Even if you think you have a preliminary list ready, spend time reading through lists and descriptions in case you’ve missed something. Just looking at a list of “Best Colleges” is worthless. Don’t waste your time with that. But doing some searches for more narrow topics can be useful. Look for rankings of top colleges for several majors you’re interested in. Search for best colleges in the geographic areas you’re interested in. Look for colleges that have other qualities you’re interested in. Be sure, though, to look at multiple sources and cross-reference the lists. Never trust a single source. Also, don’t put too much weight on the actual rankings: the difference between number 12 and number 28 may be minimal. And never stop at just the top five or 10. A rule of thumb for dealing with rankings from any source: assume the top 50 are actually tied for first place.

So, for example, imagine you think you’d like to major in biology or environmental science. You like the mid-west. You want a school with a strong sense of school spirit. I’d recommend you search: best colleges for biology, best colleges for environmental science, best colleges in mid-west, best colleges for school spirit, most underrated colleges in mid-west, best colleges for your money in mid-west, best colleges for your money biology, and best colleges for your money environmental science. For each, try to find several different lists or rankings, and look at the top 100 if they go that deep. The important thing is to look for patterns and which programs show up on multiple lists. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of them, and don’t take time to stop and do research on individual schools as you go. Just look at lots of lists and look for patterns and repeating names. This takes time, but it’s also pretty low-key. Do this before you start asking counselors and teachers for more specific help or doing deeper research.

I know you’re busy. It’s been a crazy school year. You’ve got final exams. You have projects and competitions. But you’ve also got 51 weeks left. The heavy lifting is going to happen this summer and fall, but you can set yourself up to have a much easier time if you’ll take care of these things in the next four to five weeks.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Check out these related Apply with Sanity posts:

   What happens in high school stays in high school

   Should you bother to take the SAT or ACT?

   Three things I say all the time

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

The secret to success? Here are two of them!

May 1st will soon be come and gone, and I’ll done thinking about the class of 2021. Time to focus on ‘22!

So let’s look at two things that will increase your success. It’s not strictly about college admissions, though it can help you immensely with the college application journey. It can also help you be a better college student and a calmer person after college. There are two things you need for success in high school, college, and beyond: a meditation routine and a time management system. Maybe need is a strong word. You can get by without either of these things—many people do. But I promise that a meditation routine and time management system will never be a waste of your time or effort.

Meditation. Mindfulness and mindfulness meditation are very popular at the moment, and for good reason. I’ve been falling in and out of my own mindfulness meditation habit for 20 years, so I’m obviously a fan. But it’s not the only type of meditation that you might consider. I’m using the broadest possible meaning of meditation: any repeated activity that allows a person to focus their mind for the purpose of relaxation and/or awareness.

There’s mindfulness meditation, mantra meditation, loving kindness meditation, body scan meditation, and many more. Meditation is commonly associated with Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Many meditation practices are completely secular, even if they originated in Hindu or Buddhist religions. There are also Christian, Jewish, and Muslim contemplative prayer traditions. There’s a meditation routine to fit any body, any belief, and any community. There are ways to meditate sitting, standing, walking, even running.

The important part is to completely disconnect on a regular basis. Disconnect from the noise and activity around you. Disconnect from your critical inner voice. Disconnect from all the thinking about the past and the future. Disconnect from everything that prevents you from relaxing and raising your self-awareness. Sleep also helps you disconnect, and sleep is essential. But sleep isn’t focused, and many of us don’t experience sleep as a way to get away from stress or anxiety. Meditation, however, is focused and intentional. So don’t assume that sleep is all the relaxation and disconnecting you need. (You’re probably not getting enough sleep anyway.)

Meditation works best when it’s a regular routine. Daily is better than occasional. Five minutes, twice a day is better than an intense weeklong retreat every few years.

What’s so great about meditation? It helps control stress and anxiety. It promotes the ability to focus. It may make you healthier. If you’re a spiritual believer, it helps you attain spiritual awareness. It makes different people more focused and happier in different ways, but a meditation routine, once you find the right one for you, will make you more focused and happier.

Recommendations. There are an overwhelming number of meditation books, meditation classes, guided meditations, and websites exploring meditation of all sorts. If you need a place to begin, try the Calm app or Andrew Weiss’s book Beginning Mindfulness: Learning the Way of Awareness. I think it’s better to start any meditation routine while you search for the best fit rather than wait until you find the best fit before you begin.

Time management system. Ours is a culture with too much. Too much stuff, too much to do, too many choices, too many distractions, too many solutions that never quite solve the problems. That’s a blessing; I’d rather be in a place with too much than not enough, and too many people within our culture still don’t have enough of the things that are important. But our abundant culture also has challenges—lack of sleep, lack of direction, anxiety, missing out on important things and people, self-destructive habits. This is why we need a time management system. As a high school teacher I told countless classes that the secret to doing well in college is time management. It’s something a lot of people say. But that doesn’t mean that we’re good at teaching time management.

Like meditation, there are so many ways to go about it. There are programs and systems for managing your time, and they often contradict each other. There’s not a single solution that fits everyone. The different systems use some combination of to-do lists, calendars, inboxes, notepads, routines, rewards and notes, but there are two main ideas almost universal to productivity management.

The first main idea is that you have to get your organization outside of your brain. Get your thoughts onto paper, or a note on your phone, or a calendar. But get these things, literally, outside of your body. The more you’re asking your brain to keep up with all your commitments, all the things you have to do, all the things you want to do, and all the things you hope to do, the less energy is left for your brain to focus on the thinking that it needs to do at the moment.

Imagine you’re very, very rich, and you can hire people to do most things for you. A personal shopper buys your clothes, and a helper has them ready for you each morning. A chef makes all your meals, housekeepers keep your home clean and looking good, a secretary takes care of all your planning, and someone drives you everywhere. You literally have no decisions to make or things to do that you don’t choose for yourself. Imagine how much time and energy you can focus on the projects you want to focus on! Very few of us have that much money, but the time management systems we put in place serve the same purpose. By spending 30 minutes each day reviewing what you need to do the next day and making a plan, you can maximize the time you spend on what you want to do, minimize the on-the-spot decisions you have to make, and make it less likely you’ll be unprepared for whatever is in front of you. But if you’re constantly trying to remember what you need to do, where you need to be, and what you should have done to be ready for it, you’re always behind and not spending much mental energy on what’s important to you in the moment. Any routine that gives you more time doing what you want to do and less time trying to keep up with what you need to do is a good thing. Explore your options.

The second main idea is that you have to use your system consistently. A time management system that you only use some days doesn’t work. A way to keep track of your assignments and appointments that you only check sometimes doesn’t work. You have to be consistent, or the organization doesn’t actually get out of your brain—you’re still trying to keep track of everything in your head when you could be focused on other things.

Take, as a simple example, my car keys. My car keys are always in one of only two places. They’re either in my left pants pocket, or they’re in the top drawer of my bedroom dresser. I never set them down anywhere else. It took some self-training to get myself to that point, but I did it. And now I never lose my keys or waste time looking for my keys. I also spend exactly zero mental energy thinking about where my keys are—it’s just a habit. But it wouldn’t work if I only put my keys in the same place half the time. Even if I mostly put my keys in my dresser, but sometimes left them on the kitchen table or in the bathroom, then I would either end up spending some time looking for my keys or a lot of mental energy trying to keep myself aware of where my keys are.

The same is true of your homework assignments or deadlines for college application materials. If every time you get an assignment or a deadline you write it down in your calendar, and you check your calendar daily, then you never miss a due date or deadline. And you don’t have to spend any mental energy keeping track of them, because you know they’re in your calendar. But if you only get your assignments and to-do items written down half the time, then it’s not much better than writing them down never.

Recommendations. All of my recommendations for time management systems are books: Daniel J. Levitin’s The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload; David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity; Laura Vanderkam’s Juliet’s School of Possibilities: A Little Story about the Power of Priorities; James Clear’s Atomic Habits; and Cal Newport’s Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Also: watch this.

People often ask me for tricks and tips for getting into the college of their choice. I usually have to tell them that college admissions doesn’t work that way, and I definitely don’t work that way. The best way to get into a good college is to be a good high school student. But forming a meditation routine and using a time management system will definitely help you be a better high school student and get into college. They’ll also help you be a better college student. And a better employee and a better leader. So, you know, put that on your to-do list.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Check out these related Apply with Sanity posts:

   Your parents’ fears and wishes

   Set goals for the new school year

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

What should juniors do this spring?

Dates & Deadlines

SAT: March 13 (register by February 12); May 8 (register by April 8); June 5 (register by May 6).

ACT: February 6 (register by January 19); April 17 (register by March 12); June 12 (register by May 7).

Should you plan on taking the SAT or ACT this spring? NO.

AP Exams: May 3-14, with “full length digital contingency exams” in early June for students unable to take the regular exams.

Work at being good at high school

The best way to prepare for college is to be a good high school student, and there may be no more important semester of high school--as far as college planning is concerned--than this semester. When admissions counselors look at you transcript next fall, this semester is the most recent and full picture they have. While they'll look at all your grades and activities, the junior year is more important. It lets them see how you perform in more rigorous classes and more leadership roles than you're likely to have in the 9th and 10th grade. 

What it means to be a good high school student—what it means to be a high school student at all—is drastically different this year. Keep in mind that everyone knows this. Everyone, from your teachers to school counselors to admissions officers, are also struggling through this year. They know that this past year hasn’t been normal and that transcripts and activity lists look really different.

So you don't need to add any stress or anxiety about this. You need to give this spring all that you have, that you be as fully engaged and active as possible. Nobody is asking the impossible of you. If your circumstances require you to scale back your efforts this semester or are getting in the way of your success, begin thinking about how you will talk about those circumstances with colleges.  If you find yourself falling behind, take the time to talk with your teachers and family about how to catch up—if you can. If you need emotional help, go get it. Don't wait.

A lot of the pressure that smart and ambitious high school students have to deal with is the idea that one wrong move or bad grade will ruin your chances of getting into a "good" school. This isn't true.

Reach out to colleges

By now you've probably got a good idea of what type of college you think will be good for you, and you've likely got some schools in mind. If you haven't done so yet, reach out to them now. As a starter, check out their admission web pages and read what's there. Watch the videos and take the virtual tours. If there's an easy way to ask for more information or get on a mailing list, do it. If there's an easy way to ask a question, ask it. Many schools will even make it clear on their web site the name of the admissions counselor for your area. Remember their name and reach out to them. If you find yourself feeling anxious, remember that this process isn't about proving that you're worthy. This is just an introduction, a saying "hello." It's not going to hurt you or count against you.

If you don't have a good idea yet where you might like to look, do some exploring. I’ve found that students’ geographical preferences are usually their strongest preferences. People who thought they wanted a big school end up at a small school. People who wanted to major in STEM end up majoring in Humanities. But people who want to avoid hot places rarely end up in the Southwest, and people who want to be in an urban area rarely end up in the country. So try this: think of three states you might like to live in. For each of those states, spend some time looking online at their big state university, a liberal arts college in that state, and at least one other school in that state. In this case, it's ok to search for "best colleges in...." Don't take the list's word that those schools are indeed the best for you, but it's a staring point to look around.

Once you find something that looks interesting to you, reach out to that school. This reaching-out process is really important, but not necessarily for obvious reasons. Even though some schools take "demonstrated interest" into account, it's not real likely that filling out an on-line form in your junior year is going to be the one thing that gets you accepted to a school that would otherwise reject you. It's also unlikely that an admissions counselor will, a year from now, remember your name and feel more inclined to be generous. The reason reaching out is really important is because it helps to shift your own mindset. Proactively reaching out to schools and taking that initiative reminds you that you're not just a passive product to be offered to colleges. The power in the relationship isn't only with the schools--you also have a voice in asking questions, making decisions, and finding what's right for you. When you treat the process like finding a good person for a relationship, then you understand that you have to be an active participant.

Talk to 12th graders about college

If you're in the 11th grade, then you know 12th graders. Talk to them about college. Ask them where they applied and why. Ask them how they went about their search. Ask them where they thought about applying but didn't. Ask them for advice. Be a good listener when they talk about their own experiences. 

Lots of schools have some sort of get-together where graduates get to come back and give advice about college. If your school has this option then go, and listen carefully to what they say. Ask them not only about their college experiences, but about their application experiences. Remember not to take any of their advice--or anybody's for that matter--as the only or best advice. What worked for them may not be appropriate for you.

Make summer plans

If you had asked me last summer to predict what this spring would look like, I’d have been very wrong. I would have told you that after a very difficult lock-down and widespread mask use, by January things would be largely back to normal. Yes, there would still be people getting Covid-19, but it would be a managed situation and not still a crisis. So I’m not going to make any predictions about this summer. I’m going to repeat my standard summer advice, with some Covid edits, humbly knowing that I have no idea how to give targeted, practical advice at the moment.

Here's where I'm supposed to give very pointed mandates about thinking strategically and making plans for this summer that best align with your college goals and help "round out your resume," whatever that means. But really I can't make myself do that. Because it really doesn't matter so long as you do something and you're thoughtful about it.

If you need to work or want a job, that's great. [Covid: it’s a lot less likely you’ll get a job.] As far as college is concerned it really doesn't matter what that job is so long as you work hard at it and are reflective about what you learn from the job. As you go to work, remind yourself to work as hard as you can. And when you're done, ask yourself what you learned from that day's work. Those two things matter so much more to everyone than the job title or name of the company. 

If you don't need to work, then make other plans. And here's the trick: treat it like a job, in the sense that you decide to do your best and be reflective. Even if you have the cushiest summer imaginable--maybe you're going to spend two months as a VIP on a cruise ship sailing around the Caribbean [Covid: you probably won’t be traveling], you can still get a lot out of this. Just begin each day [Covid: even if you’re stuck at home all day, every day] reminding yourself to make the most of the day, and end each day reflecting about what you learned. Whatever is you do, it can be useful for your college applications and useful for your productive and interesting life.

Another way you can make sure you make the most of your summer is to give yourself a goal of 20. Make 20 visits to local museums or parks. Have 20 intentional interactions with older members of your family asking them about their experiences. Read 20 books. Watch 20 of the best movies of all time. Find 20 items to donate to charity. Run 20 miles, spread out over as many days as you need. The number 20 is arbitrary, but an arbitrary number helps make a vague idea an achievable goal. Every time you knock out one of your 20, remind yourself to be deliberate and reflective.

Sitting around "doing nothing" is the enemy of any smart and ambitious student.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read What Should I Be Doing Now? for other grades.

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.