Summer: The Perfect Time To Engage In A Little College Admissions Planning

Summer is here; heat, humidity, and more heat and humidity--oh, my. Yes, summer is upon us. Every student's reprieve from a year of tireless hours of homework, study and preparation. For most students, the word summer is synonymous with vacations, travel, time spent at the beach, hanging with friends or doing anything that does not resemble school work . . . LOL! Yes, summer is the time for the high school student to enjoy his or herself to the fullest; however, summer also offers other opportunities of which to take advantage.

For the high school senior, summer is also the perfect time to engage in a little college admissions planning. No, don't laugh--I am very serious, and with some careful planning and time management, summer can afford high school seniors with ample opportunity to get ahead of the college admissions curve, or at least the competition, and still allow seniors that will be applying to colleges and universities this fall ample opportunity to straight kick-it and enjoy themselves this summer as well.

During the summer months, I will be developing posts that focus on pre-college admissions planning for those high school seniors who want to get ahead of the admissions curve starting with this post. Since school is officially out for summer across America, you should have plenty of time to do all of those things that you like to do, and then some. And I guarantee you that you will love yourself that much more if you begin your college research and exploration process over the summer rather than waiting until the fall when you will have classes, athletics, extracurriculars, friends and family all pulling and tugging for your attention and time.

So, to make your life easier or simpler this fall start your college admissions planning by:

1. Writing out a list of your top college choices. In your list, please remember to include your dream schools, your schools that you feel that you should not have a problem gaining admissions to (solids), and your safety schools or schools which you believe will admit you unconditonally. This list should be 7-10 colleges and/or universities (but can be longer or shorter).

2. After your list is written, you should conduct research online, searching out the most relevant and pertinent information of all of the schools on your list. You should also use this time to request college viewbooks from those schools that send such information and other collateral material to prospective students, otherwise you can just get the information from the school's website.

3. Once your list and college research are done, try to narrow your college list to 3-5 schools if possible.

4. Once you have your list narrowed down to a more manageable number of schools you should discuss your college list with your parents, sharing your level of interest in each school that you are seeking to gain admissions.

5. Thereafter, if possible, you and your parents can plan a summer visit to the schools on your list if feasible. However, in the case where distance or costs may make such a visit impracticable for you try to visit all of the local schools or schools within driving distance. (Most colleges and universities have daily and weekend visit programs in place for prospective students and their families). Alternatively, most colleges and universities these days also offer virtual campus tours that can be accessed from their respective websites--so be sure to check this option out as well.

6. Register to take the ACT or SAT early if possible. Taking the ACT or SAT early may alleviate a lot of stress and/or tension during the fall term especially if you achieve the score that you need for admissions and scholarship purposes the first time around. On the flipside, taking the admissions tests early in the game is also advantageous because if you fall a little short--understanding where you are will be helpful in preparing for the respective college entrance exam(s) that will be administered in the fall or the next time that you take it/them.

7. Finally, make contact with the college admissions offices of your top choices and request information, sign-up for mailing lists and develop a rapport with an admissions professional at those schools.

The suggestions above might seemed to be a lot, but if done in an organized and systematic manner each day--you will find that the suggestions listed above are very doable, manageable, and achieveable goals.

Why College? Why Not?

The title of this post is: Why College? Why Not? At a glance this brief question and answer may make no sense, but actually it does. You see the caption above was taken from a poster that I purchased when I was a college student. I loved this poster or actually the series of Why College? Why Not posters? I found these posters quite appealing because of their message: on one poster there was the quintessential dream house that sat atop a mountain. Underneath the mansion-like house were seven open garage doors which housed a car for everyday of the week: the Mercedes-Benz, the BMW, Lamborghini, Maserati, Porsche, Ferrari and one other which I can't seem to remember as I sit here writing this post . . . nevertheless, I am sure that you are beginning to see where I am heading in mentioning this.


To make a long story shorter, I had three of the aforementioned posters which I placed in 24 X 36 frames. My plan was to mount them on my wall to remind me of the myriad rewards in pursuing higher education any time I began to question my educational endeavors or the inherent value of pursuing a college education. Indeed, the posters served as nice daily reminders of what treasures can be amassed by pursuing higher education. Nonetheless, perhaps, my allusion to the Why College poster story appears a bit materialistic, but please don't misinterpret my intentions here for I do recognize that there are so many reasons that high school students and others choose to pursue formal higher education beyond the pursuit of luxury cars and big houses.


To the contrary, the point of this post is to merely highlight that there are so many individual reasons that those of us who choose to matriculate to our nearest university or college choose to do so. For some, well, it is to continue to excel and achieve in school so that they can achieve the American dream of white houses and picket fences. While for others, the pursuit of education is draped in family tradition or generational legacy--you were born to attend university (sorry, I had to say that). And yet for others, pursuing higher education is part of our individual recipe for success. Today, if you want to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer, nurse, teacher, psychologist, biologist or whatever your chosen field of human endeavor, guess what? You-have-to-go-to-college--plain and simple, no "ands," "ifs," or "buts," about it!


In the age of the New Millenium--the 21st First Century--it is paramount for young people to secure the necessary educational preparation and training that will equip them to be players in the global and ever-changing world economy. So, having said all that, I decided to start the blog Forward University to serve as a source of information, advice and encouragement, among other things, to prospective college students across the land. Recognizing the importance of education, I wish that all students will graduate from high school, and move on to post-secondary education. Perhaps, this blog will help to achieve that lofty goal.