As the school year progresses, sophomores, juniors and seniors start looking into applying to colleges. There are many ways to prepare for applications and make the transition from high school to college easier. Many resources are available at Antioch Community High School to make the application process smoother. Student counselor Kelly Lindgren shares her advice to students when it comes to college.

“The biggest one [tip] is to start looking early so that you don’t wait until you’re a senior,” Lindgren said. “Sophomore and junior year should be your research years. It’s not too early as a freshman to even start.”

Another tip for students looking to attend college is to take advantage of college visits. College representatives come to ACHS to present information about the school they work for.

“We just have so many reps coming to visit our students, and [students] don’t come,” Lindgren said.  “You get so much information from those visits. It’s a good way of learning a lot about college in general without even having to visit.”

Selecting colleges is the very beginning of the application process; in order to start applications, a student must find the schools that interest them. The next step in the application process is filling out the application and getting recommendation letters. 

“Show your true colors and don’t rush the process,” senior Maya Schon said. “[For recommendation letters] I would think about someone who knows you from the inside and out.”

Having good recommendation letters is key to college applications; these letters tell colleges the strengths of each person. A good recommendation letter sets the base for a great college application. Schon shares her best tips for other students who are starting to apply to college.

“Anything extra that you do for the school always helps your application,” Schon said. “I give myself time slots to complete sections of the application to keep myself on task.”

Time management is a big part of a great application.  One of the more common ways to tackle the components of the application is to split up each part over a day. According to writers on educationplanner.org, knowing deadlines is huge. One should start applications early enough to complete them by the deadlines; deadlines are usually between January 1 and February 15.

Although the college application process can be stressful, there is a list of ways to help ease the stress. Visiting campuses to find the right college, using school counselors and starting early are all ways to keep from overstressing about the college application process.