12 Ways to Distract Yourself While Waiting for College Decisions

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After consulting teachers for recommendations, filing the FAFSA, researching college admissions procedural advice, and refining your Common App or college-specific application, all that is left to do is wait.  The reality is that the result has moved beyond your control and in the hands of the admissions decisions committee, and the weeks-long waiting period can the hardest part of it all.

Given the fact that I am currently going through the college admissions process myself, I have compiled a short list of mindful things that I do, and affirmations that I keep, to ease my nerves during the selection process.  Hopefully, you will see these motivations personally fit upon awaiting your admissions decisions.

12 Ways to Keep Yourself Busy While Waiting for College Decisions

  1. Remind yourself that it is not the end of the world.
    • Often, we may find ourselves overwhelmed with the over exaggerated notion of failure if we are not admitted into a specific university of choice. However, the label of a university cannot affirm nor defer your innermost worth.
  2. Handwrite a list of positive affirmations and post them around your room.
    • I prefer to reaffirm myself of positive characteristics, as I believe it digs deeper than, and ultimately influences, compliments about physicality.
  3. Create something, whether it be a painting, a journal entry, or a music mix.
  4. Bake yourself a batch of cookies.
  5. Remind yourself that everything happens for a reason.
    • No matter the outcome of the situation, it is important to remember that you are not always given the results that you want, but rather, the ones that you need.
  6. Give yourself a spa treatment.
    • Physical self-care is just as important as spiritual self-care. Spa care can range anywhere from taking a bath to painting your nails.
  7. Build a play fortress. Gather flashlights and read under it.
    • There is something pleasurably nostalgic about emulating a favorite activity from your childhood.
  8. Take a spontaneous walk with no destination.
    • In a situation as demanding as college admissions, it is necessary to do something for yourself that does not involve intricate planning.
  9. Talk with a friend or relative that you haven’t spoken to for a while.
    • Whether you ask the person specifically for advice pertaining to college admissions, or you’re catching up on life’s adventures, you will gain a new perspective from someone you haven’t heard from in a while.
  10. Have a solo dance party to your favorite music playlist.
    • This is the best release after finishing a college supplemental essay.
  11. Dress elaborately for the sake of dressing elaborately.
    • I truly believe in gained self-confidence through the expression of outerwear. If you enjoy doing your makeup, I would suggest doing your makeup fancily for a day, it is simply another esteem-boosting tactic.
  12. Watch something on Netflix that you wouldn’t normally.
    • I find independent and international films to be particularly intriguing; you can gain new insight and it feels as though you traveled to a completely foreign place, all while sitting in your room.
    • There are great instructional meditation videos available online for first-time meditators. My personal favorite instructor is Jazz of Life By Jazz.  I would also recommend reaching out to your local meditation classes or camps if you prefer meditating in a group setting.

 

All in all, keep busy.  Your life does not end the moment that you apply for colleges and restart when you attend it, so you should value every allot of time during this process towards self-improvement and productivity.  The college admissions process is an exciting, unparalleled once-in-a-lifetime event.  There is no need to worry, you will end up right where you need to be.

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Five College Admissions Blogs You Should Be Following!

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Some of you may be wondering, “Is YGITW the only source for my college admissions needs?” and the answer is no! There are many different admissions blogs available on the internet (although YGITW is obviously the best ;), but here are six blogs that will help you will all of your admissions questions!

Ivy Coach

Are you interested in the Ivy League? If you answered yes, then this blog is for you! Ivy Coach provides information on the college admissions process for the schools in the Ivy League such as Yale, Harvard, and Dartmouth. With the Ivies being some of the most competitive schools in the nation, Ivy Coach is sure to help when it comes to fulfilling your Ivy dream. Along with college admission, the blog also includes information about Ivy League sports and college athletes. Ivy Coach has also received national recognition and has been featured in credible newspapers such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Particularly Helpful Posts:

The College Solution

The College Solution is a blog created by Lynn O’Shaughnessy who is a nationally recognized college expert, journalist, author, and educator. Her blog consists of everything from college rankings to finding different scholarships. Her articles provides an expert's view on the college admissions process and this blog is great for many different uses!

Particularly Helpful Posts:

College Coach - The Insider Blog

The Insider Blog contains information for both parents and students. This blog highlights three major aspects: A Parent’s Perspective, School Spotlight, and Scholarship Spotlight. These different topics feature articles about parents, details about specific schools, and scholarships. But, these aren’t the only topics available on the website, College Coach provides various others such as Advice from the Experts and Tips for Acing the Essays. Another unique feature of this blog is that they provide podcasts for students and parents to listen to on an ample amount of topics.

Particularly Helpful Posts:

College Advice from the Princeton Review

Princeton Review is most notably known for its Advanced Placement review books, but did you know that there was a college admissions blog? College Advice from the Princeton Review provides everything about college advice. The menu selector located on the website can be easily navigated. The menu consists of different sections: Apply, Pay, Prep, Study and Succeed. These tabs can be easily located and it can help you with whichever topic you need. A great feature on this blog is that it also includes tools that can help match you to your perfect university and major!

Particularly Helpful Posts:

College Planning Blog from Best College Fit

College Planning from Best College Fit provides great information about the college admissions process. One thing that stands out for this blog is the Readers’ Forum. The forum allows students to send in questions to the blog’s primary contributor, Peter Van Buskirk. He also tailors his articles based on the questions he receives from his readers. This blog is especially helpful because of how applicable these posts can be as well as how personalized.

Particularly Helpful Posts:

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The Advantages of Starting Your Common Application Early

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It’s August, which means the return of two things: school, and the opening of the Common Application.

Many colleges across the country use the Common Application as a way to make the application process as smooth and concise as possible for students. While this is a big help, there is another thing that you can do in order to make the process even easier for yourself- starting your application early, and giving yourself the greatest amount of time to work on it.

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The Race Against the Clock

It is no secret that it is time consuming to fill out college applications. The process can become even more stressful when paired with school work, and can put strains on your friendships and grades, in which the latter are extremely important during your senior year of high school.

The only way that you can combat the inevitable pressure during this time of year is to begin your application as soon as you possibly can before things start to get busy at school. The procrastination of this important process will only lead to unneeded anxiety, and you will miss out on opportunities that will help better your applications.

Here are a few advantages of starting your applications early and tips on how to make them the best that they can be.

Talking to Your Counselor

One of the best things about starting the application process is that you are never alone, even if you start ahead of everyone else. Your counselor will be there for you every step of the way, and can advise you and answer any questions you have.

If you aren’t in school yet, don’t be afraid to send your counselor an email, and if you have already started school, make it a point to set up an appointment with them in the near future. They will be happy to assist you in any way they can, whether it be for helping you choose your shortlist of colleges and universities, helping you send out the transcripts and test scores necessary for your applications, or assisting you in choosing which activities would best showcase your positive qualities on your Activities List. Being ahead of the game can only help you as counselors will not be completely swamped with appointments yet; due to this, they can give you the best possible advice about making decisions concerning your future.

Getting Teacher Recommendations

For some students, approaching teachers for recommendations is terrifying and anxiety-inducing, while others already know which teachers they want to write theirs and can easily inquire about them. No matter which side of the spectrum you’re on, you need to make sure that you ask your teachers to write your recommendations as soon as possible.

Deciding which teachers will write your recommendations can be difficult, so giving yourself a lot of time to figure out which ones would be the best for you is a huge plus. When you work the list out early, you can ask them before others start crowding them with requests. By doing this, you save both yourself and your teachers a lot of stress, and give them a lot of time to write the best recommendation they can without the strain of a deadline hovering above their heads.

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Writing Your Essays

Writing the essays for your applications is possibly the most stressful part of the application process due to tricky, open-ended prompts and word counts that limit your creativity. This part only gets worse if you attempt to write these essays while you are in school, for homework and extra-curriculars can get in the way- you don’t want to have to focus on your college essay while writing a research paper for your English class at the same time.

If you are not in school, you are currently in the best-case scenario. Even though you are probably trying to embrace your last days of summer vacation, take out some time to at least look at all of the prompts for the colleges you are applying to and brainstorm what you will write; it would be even better if you write rough drafts for all of them. If you are already in school, then you will have to manage your time wisely. When you have breaks, take the time to jot down ideas for your essays and write blurbs that will fit into them. After school and on the weekends, put your mind to writing drafts based on your ideas, and don’t allow yourself to become distracted by others so that you can write as best as you can.

A big advantage to starting your essays early is that you give people a lot of time to read and edit them. Not only can you ask friends and family to assist you in making sure your essays are absolutely perfect, but your teachers can also give you more in-depth advice so that you can express yourself clearly through your writing. Getting help editing is a valuable opportunity that you cannot pass up, so put a pencil to paper and start!

Hopefully, throughout this article, you have realized that starting your Common Application early can only be advantageous for you and the people who are willing to assist you in making sure you impress the colleges you are applying to. Avoid all possible stress and begin now—you’ll be thankful when application deadlines come rolling around!

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COLLEGE ADMISSIONS? CHECK OUT THE YGITW BOOK HERE!
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Aline Your Clubs with Your College Application

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What to put on your college application to make you stand out.

I’ve been at this college application process for a couple of months and I’ve had an overwhelming amount of advice from my parents, friends, uncles, cousins, and even strangers and some of the advice was great. Some are just plain awful but they have the best intentions. But what they all have said to me was, “Make sure you make yourself stand out.”

Clubs

They say during high school, be as involved as possible but I say don’t. Freshman Year, you join every single club and you may start overwhelm yourself that you don’t get as involved in the clubs. You can't move up in the ranks. When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter how many clubs you join if you don't move up in the ranks, all college admissions will see is that you joined the clubs just to join.

My Advice/ Experience

Join two or three clubs that you really enjoy so that you have the chance to get to know the members, the sponsor, the works of the club. When you do, get as involved as possible in those clubs. These will open up a plethora of opportunities for you so that when senior year rolls around, you could become VP or even President. When college administrators see this, they know you stay committed and you work hard.

I’ve been a member of the same two clubs since Sophomore year of high school, and as a senior, I managed to move up as VP for both clubs. Though my schedule was busy, I had time to participate because I wasn't running around trying to keep up with what club meetings I had to attend. The clubs I joined corresponded to the major I plan on studying in college. I joined a club named HyperStream which deals with learning how to code website, Graphic Interfaces (I/O’s). It corresponds with the Computer Science major which I will be pursuing in college. You don't want to confuse the admissions board by joining all these journalism clubs when you’re intended major will be Science or Mathematics. You want to stay consistent so they can see what you are interested in your major.

Now, I'm not saying to not join a club that involves one of your hobbies. You can still be an engineering major with a list of two clubs that involved learning about engineering but you can still have an art club because it's something you enjoy.

In the end, it's all about finding something you love and staying consistent. Don't be afraid to explore, but at the same time, don't be timid towards your aspirations. Clubs are meant to get you involved in your school community while building extracurricular contexts for your academic resume - make the most of them!

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