Juniors! This is your time to start thinking about college. Now that the senior class has finished applying, we can give you some tips to make college less stressful and help you get the most out of the application process. The biggest piece of advice I have for you, is to take advantage of this summer! When you begin your senior year, everything happens so quickly, and you’ll be glad you had all that free time to get ahead of the game. Also, make sure you keep in contact with your college counselor, they are there to help! College applications may seem overwhelming, so here is a list of things to help you get started. Good luck girls!

• Research schools! This is the fun part, start researching schools you may want to apply to. Read about the school’s tuition, the number of students, the programs they offer, and the student life. Make a list so you can compare different schools. Naviance is a great tool for this.
• Ask for recommendation letters! If you haven’t already, now would be a great time to ask for your recommendation letters. This gives teachers time over the summer to write. You should talk to your college counselor and discuss which teachers would be the best to ask.
• Start your college essay! There are so many resources online to help guide you while writing your essay. You pick a prompt that works for you and start writing. This way you’ll have a rough draft ready to be edited.
• Apply for scholarships! I highly recommend doing this over the summer. There are so many scholarship opportunities that begin as soon as you finish your junior year. They are easy to find, and you can apply to as many as you want! You can google them or look for local ones. Trust me when I say there are scholarships for everything!

This article originally appeared in the March 2021 edition of The Nazareth, Volume XCIII, No. 3.