LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – On Oct.1, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, opened, as well as the California State University Application. In addition, the University of California Application is now open for submissions.
For Cal States and UCs, this means that seniors have about a month to turn in the application; it is due by Dec. 1.
Advice for University of California schools
The timing of when seniors should turn in their applications is often debated.
Counselor Mrs. Davenport recommends that seniors create a final draft and turn in their applications as soon as possible. She also suggests that seniors create a plan early on in their high school career.
“The earlier you start, the easier the process will be…somewhere around ninth and tenth grade, students should start researching schools so that by the time you are in junior year and the summer after junior year, you have a list ready of where you want to apply, and it makes the application process a lot easier,” said Davenport.
Meanwhile, counselor Mrs. Schaeffer recommends that students create a weekly process.
“Spend a specific time a couple nights a week where you’re going to start working on your homework early for the night, because if every night, you just wait until all your homework is done, you’re tired, it’s late, your energy isn’t fresh and you might run out of time to work on your application, especially if kids have a lot of really hard classes with a lot of homework. So, make sure that you’re finding or creating set amounts of time. Maybe it’s a half hour, three or four times a week, maybe an hour, depending on how many extra essays you have to write in the Common App,” said Schaeffer.
The content of the UC essay is also debated. For the UC extracurricular section, it’s recommended to use active language and keep language concise, with lots of verbs. Students should show impact in a short amount of words, so it’s best to start with strong verbs.
As well, colleges consider personal insight questions. Davenport recommends that students not use thoughtful metaphors, instead getting straight to the point for the questions.
LAHS counselor Schaeffer also advises seniors about what to write in UC personal essays.
“Definitely not pretty language, quoting anybody or having that hook that you might have for your personal statement for the Common App, you don’t do that at all in the UC, so it’s just very straightforward,” said Schaeffer.
LAHS college counselors describe how students should not include information that they think college admission officers would want; instead, they should paint an accurate picture of themselves. LAHS counselor Marianne Schaeffer has a personal insight question structure that all students should follow.
“For the UCs, that’s more like an interview…no flowery, pretty language, or quoting anybody. It’s just straightforward…It’s kind of a me, myself, and I kind of essay or writing sample. So, first paragraph, what you did. Second paragraph, what was the impact?” said Schaeffer.
LAHS College counselors describe a college essay as an interview, using neutral language, not super formal or super informal. The essay should describe a basic, unique experience and other things that you think a reader should know.
Advice for California State schools
For Cal State schools, the application process is much easier. According to the Cal State Admissions Office, it is important to start three weeks to several months earlier. LAHS counselors also dictate that the Cal State Application takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
Davenport recommends that students sit down with their parents and knock the application out quickly.
“All your classes and your grades should have been input already, and then you have some minor questions that you need to fill out. But overall, the Cal State app should take 45 minutes or less,” said Davenport.
LAHS counselor Mr. Riehm holds similar advice.
“Cal States are very streamlined; there is no SAT, no recommendation letter. They’re looking for that nice (grade point average),” said Riehm.
It’s also a good idea to have important documents next to you as you complete the application, as it will take less time if you do. According to the California State University News, it’s recommended that students start earlier, prepare and look through their final draft with their parents.
Advice for Common Application schools
The Common Application personal essays have 650 words, as compared to the UC application, which has 350 words.
“(The Common Application) is much longer, and you can do creative writing pieces if you want. You can talk about an experience. There’s quite a variety of prompts on themes…It is very, very open-ended and can be more on the creative side,” said Davenport.
For the Common App, students will likely need their high school transcripts, an activities list, personal information, academic honors and achievements, letters of recommendation, SAT scores, ACT scores and personal essays. However, the only required information on the Common App includes a copy of the high school transcript, a list of activities, work and responsibilities, test scores and dates, parent/guardian information and academic honors and achievements.
This means the application will likely take longer; US News estimates that it varies, but the application will typically take about two months to complete.
The Common Application personal essays are much different from UC PIQs.
“For the Common App personal statement, it’s longer, you have more chance to share about yourself, in your own true, authentic voice,” said Schaeffer.
Schaeffer also advises students against common personal statement mistakes.
“But in that situation where you might be talking about something that 1000s of kids across the country have had an experience with, if it’s leadership, playing on the football team or a sports injury, maybe something like that; you might feel like, gosh, everybody writes about that…so, your way of personalizing it and giving as much detail about your own specific experience and your own response, is how you make that work,” said Schaeffer.
Essentially, it is best to avoid common college cliches to keep your original voice; however, you can personalize it and write about your personal influential experience.
General advice
In general, LAHS Counselors suggest students start early. Davenport, Riehm, and Scaeffer said that the biggest mistake they see students making is starting only a few weeks before the deadline.
“It all has to be planned early so you’re not missing any deadlines, discuss it with your support system, and write the dates down and work backward,” said Riehm.
Also, in general, it’s essential not to connect one’s self-worth with a certain college.
“Try not to take (college admissions) personally. If you get a rejection from a school, it happens to all our students when they apply to a school. It feels very personal, but the school frequently looks at it from a much more numerical standpoint, especially like the Cal States or some of the public schools that are out of state. And so if you do get a rejection, just know that that wasn’t the right fit for you. It wasn’t meant to be, and to not try to take it personally, because for many of the schools, it’s a numbers game,” said Schaeffer.
Finally, another suggestion is not to stress; college acceptances are not everything. Besides, students unhappy with college decisions can always do the community college route and transfer to a UC and Cal State through the UC Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) and Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) programs.
The counselors also advise students on what most colleges are looking for: a well-rounded person who also gets good grades and takes academically rigorous classes.
“They are looking for kids who will be successful academically and socially on their campus…they also want kids who are going to participate on campus and be involved,” said Schaeffer.
Davenport also gives similar advice on how students should present themselves on college applications.
“They’re looking for rigor and GPA, and they’re also looking for well-rounded individuals. So the extracurricular list is very important, but you don’t need to do a sport for four years,” said Davenport.
