Admissions Process Overview
Applying for college can be the most exciting time of a young adult’s life, but it can also be the most stressful. The college admissions process is one that takes a lot of research, time, energy and effort. It is a long process that begins with the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Tests (PSAT’s) and ends the day the young adult walks into their dorm room. It can be a trying time when young adults are forced to make decisions, whether financial or another type, which will dictate the direction their lives will follow for many years. Preparing for college admission, choosing the right school or the right major, applying to colleges and getting enough money to attend are all major tasks within the college admission process.
College means different things to different students. For some, being accepted into an Ivy League school is their first goal in life. Some students just would like to get accepted to any college. Others, however, could care less. To those that value a higher education, an Ivy League college is considered the best of the best. The Ivy League is actually an athletic conference that contains eight schools in the North East region of the United States. As time has passed, the term “Ivy League” has grown to refer to the universities as a whole. These colleges routinely ranked near the top of every report compiled by college ranking organizations and are synonymous with things like outstanding excellence in education, persnickety admissions and social elitism. The eight schools (Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Princeton, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, Cornell) are typically pursued by the best and brightest of the world’s youth which make it extremely tough to be admitted.
To be accepted into one of these eight universities is a feat within itself; sometimes students are even put on waiting lists and wait a number of years to be admitted. The admissions process for an Ivy League school requires extra preparation and academic focus. An application to an Ivy League school must be superb and there are different tricks for catching the admission committee’s eye that will be revealed later. The admission committee’s at Ivy League schools are trained to look not only for outstanding academic performers, but outstanding individuals. A student must make an effort to define themselves, to stand out and to prove that they are an asset to their community. With this proved, the committee will no have no choice but to determine the student would be an asset to their university.
The most important part of the college admission process is to realize that it is exactly that: a process. A process is something that takes a certain period of time and requires a certain itinerary. College is not something that should only be thought about the month that the applications are due or the week that the scholarship is due. College should be planned for throughout the high school career of a young adult. Certain steps must be taken in the early years of high school if the young adult wishes to attend an Ivy League caliber college. The research, hard work, time, energy and effort mentioned previously must begin at the beginning of high school.
A student wishing to be prepared for admissions into an Ivy League must be dedicated to their academic and personal excellence. They should exhibit leadership abilities and a passion for learning. Natural intelligence as well as the ability to study what does not come inherently is also important. Almost always, a young adult that has these qualities will become vocal about their wish to attend a school in the elite Ivy League early enough to start preparing for the college admissions process. Whether you are a student or a parent, the journey has just begun.
Perfect practice makes perfect. The college admissions process should not be entered blindly. It is a process that should be well researched before it is implemented. If it is well researched, it will be easy to prepare for the optimum results.