Would you buy a car without driving it first? Would you buy a home without going to see it first? Arrange for a college visit and see everything “up close and personal“. Can’t visit? Spend some time on YouTube and you can learn quite a lot about a college as well!
If you do your research on you and your schools, you should be able to develop a college list that meets your values, interests, personality-style and skills (your VIPS) but that also gives you a good chance of being admitted and earning a merit scholarship.
You need to max out the academic opportunities at your high school by taking the most challenging courses in the subjects that are most interesting to you. This is part of building your brand as an applicant.
Exhaust online resources available to you. Start with the school’s website and learn everything you can about admission requirements, application dates, and special attributes about the school, the major, the student body – everything that is important to you. From there, make good use of other websites like Unigo, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to learn more and to connect!
Your college search should be about creating an awesome college experience that will help propel you into the life you want to live, not about winning a popularity contest.
