Advice To Juniors
Langley High School Career Counselor Meg Gallagher had this advice for the juniors who will apply to colleges next year:
• Don’t slack off in your studies during your senior year. The first semester grades are critical, Gallagher said. She remembers setting aside application files with the note “hold for grades” after the first semester
• Pay attention to your “personal PR.” Don’t just be a name on a piece of paper. When a college representative visits your high school, show your interest. Visit, ask questions, and write a personal note and thank the representative for their time.
Gallagher said thank you notes really impressed her. Later, when she was making recommendations for admissions, she said, “I didn’t give them preferential treatment, but I read their files a little differently.”
• Pay attention to your application essay. When
grades, courses, and SAT scores are similar, it often becomes the deciding factor between two qualified students.
• Don’t ignore details. Using a pencil to fill out your college application won’t give a positive impression.
Advice to Parents
• Don’t punish your child with your disapproval if he or she isn’t admitted to the college of your choice. Your child is going to
college, not you.
• Don’t count on your influence to get your child admitted. “Parents call out all the connections,” Gallagher said. “So [what if] you called up a congressman and got them to write a letter. Like they know your kid.”
Recommendations and letters give another “snapshot” of the student added to the other materials in the application file, but don’t replace them.
• Don’t call up the admissions officer and offer to make a large
contribution to the college. It won’t help, and it might
diminish your child’s chance of admission.