Counselor Edition: What 4 Incoming Freshman Learned From the College Process
Their Challenges and Surprises
(~3 Min Read)
Dear Future Undergraduate:
With the College Application season in full swing, this is a good time to review select learnings based on my podcast with Incoming College Freshman about the College Process.
There are 3 areas of Learnings:
About You
About Colleges
About the College Application
1.About You
a) Goals Change:
Rishika Kartik [Incoming Freshman from Colorado] was surprised to find out how much her goals had changed during her 4 years of High School.
At the beginning of high school, she wanted to do Engineering because she really liked math. It was something that excited her. But by the end of High School her special passion was at the intersection of STEM and the Arts. Her mission is to study Disability Design and Education!
So, if you feel that everyone, but you, has things figured out, that’s not the case. Rishika says her goals changed “every day”.
b) Do it For the Right Reasons:
Skylar Walters [Incoming Freshman from New Jersey] used to get worked up and scared by the prospect of applying to college. From a very young age she was doing things that would look good on her resume, and not because she was interested in them.
In her sophomore year of High School she started realizing that she didn’t want to do things just because it would help her get into a particular college. She wanted to do things because she loved them.
So, she dropped everything she wasn't really interested in started pursuing real passions, like writing.
2.About Colleges
a) It’s All About the Fit:
Logan Lau [Incoming Freshman from Hawaii] wants to go to medical school after undergraduate study. So he made a pretty comprehensive list of colleges that he felt would help him meet that goal. Then he actually visited a handful of those colleges. He realized that he didn’t like them!
It hit him then, that it's all about fit. So he started to prioritize colleges on the basis of what would be a good fit for him - the feeling that you get walking around campus, the people, the classroom, the location. Logan says, once he started doing that, the decision just got incredibly easy.
Skylar Walters had a mega list of colleges she was considering. She visited college webinars to figure out if she could see herself at that college.
Caltech was a dream school of hers. At a CalTech webinar, Skylar learned that hobbies were hard to pursue at CalTech. Now, hobbies are very important to her, and she couldn’t see herself going through 4 years without hobbies.
She concluded that she didn’t fit perfectly with the culture of Caltech. So she moved on.
b) Financial Aid Information is Hard to Find:
Rebecca Youngers [Incoming Freshman from Iowa] had a hard time figuring out the kinds of Financial aid a college offered - whether need-based or merit scholarship. The information was hard to find, and when she did find it, it was complicated to compute. So, she got in the mode of just applying to a college and if you get in, you may be shocked to find out that it costs a ton of money to study there.
c) College Visits Make a Difference:
Rebecca Youngers was able to go on just a couple college visits. In her Junior year the pandemic became the obstacle. She played softball during summer, so she had to wait till the end of the vacation to go on visits. The college visits actually helped her get a feel if she belonged to a college or not. So, with limited visits she applied to a number of colleges without visiting. With visits, you can save money and time.
Logan Lau visited colleges on the East Coast. He realized, as someone from Hawaii, it was just too cold for him. He was used to the temperature being in the mid-80s year round. That was a rude awakening, and location & weather helped him narrow the list of colleges pretty fast!
3. About the College Application
a) Time Management:
Rebecca Youngers says that College application is a huge time commitment. During the senior year, in addition to AP classes, advanced classes, extracurriculars, sports, all occurring at the same time, it can be very, very hard to find time to work on the applications. So, prioritize your applications.
You may be tempted to push working on the applications to the weekend. Time management is hard and a big component of the college application process, so it is really important to give it a high priority.
b) Application Writing Makes You Better:
Rishika Kartik found that college application writing enabled her to look at the world differently. She believes that writing about things that matter to you, you care about, or what you do, makes you a better writer and more introspective. And you appreciate more, the things that you hitherto took for granted.
To recap, here are some things you can do:
If you are not sure of what you want to study in college, short list areas you like and would like to explore;
Work on getting as clear a picture as possible, of the kind of College you would like to attend;
Visit College campuses;
Make a weekly schedule to work on the Applications.
I hope you find the learnings from recent high school graduates helpful as you work on your College Application.
All the Best!
August 2022 Podcasts Curated For You
1.Justice Robinson: Goldwater Scholar, Transfers from Tulsa Community College to UNC
Justice Robinson is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
After high school, Justice was forced to take up a job. During that period, a number of personal experiences & trauma motivated her to want to become a brain scientist.
So, after 6 years of selling insurance, Justice enrolled in Tulsa Community College, and opened the door to Research, The Goldwater Scholarship and more.
Justice joins our podcast to share her undergraduate college journey, The Goldwater Scholarship, UG Research experiences at TCC and UNC.
Key Takeaways:
Amazing drive and spirit, passion for creating new knowledge and most of all, unafraid to try out new things;
Having the confidence to jump into college after a gap of 6 years with the goal of becoming a brain scientist;
Winning the Goldwater Scholarship and eventually transferring from Community College to UNC.
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights with Justice Robinson of UNC. (2.5-Minute Listen).
2.Cara Skikne: Studyportals Helps International Students Find the Right College Programs.
Cara Skikne is Senior Editor at Studyportals in the Netherlands. Cara became a big believer in International Education through her own experience leaving her native South Africa to study at Oxford in the UK.
Edwin Van Rest founded StudyPortals when he realized there wasn’t a single place to go to find international college programs.
On our podcast, Cara tells us How StudyPortals got started, How they help College-bound students & Universities, Global Int’l Student Trends and Advice for college-bound students.
Key Takeaways:
Studyportals allows students to easily find and research English-taught programs in colleges and universities in different countries;
Offers Universities insight into Student Trends, Geographies where their programs may resonate;
Scholarships available for various programs.
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights with Cara Skikne of Studyportals. (3 Minute Listen)
3.Dean Graeme Harper: What is Creative Writing?
Graeme Harper is a Professor and Dean of Oakland University Honors College.
Dean Harper is an award winning novelist and he came to Creative Writing by way of History and English Literature.
His first novel won an award, before it was even published. Since then, Dean Harper has since published over 3 dozen fiction and non-fiction books.
On this Podcast, Dean Harper tells us what Creative Writing is, Elements of Creative Writing, Role of Imagination, the skills needed to study Creative Writing in College and the Career opportunities.
Hi5s from the Podcast are:
What is Creative Writing?
“Imaginative State”
Process of Creative Writing
Tech & Creativity
Career Opportunities
Listen to Podcast with Dean Graeme Harper on Creative Writing as a Major. (33-Minute Listen)
Finally, A Big Thank You to all my podcast guests who have been generous with their time and counsel on my podcasts.
Have a Great September.
Venkat