Spiral notebook with numbers for a to do list.
All, College Admissions, College Applications, Summer

College Admissions Tips for Juniors

As summer gets closer, high school students might be heads down in end of the year exams and finals, sports playoffs, or crossing off the days until they can sleep in. But there are a few tasks they should attend to while school is still in session that will help make college applications easier. Paying attention to these important college admissions tips for high school juniors will put them in a better position to work on applications over the summer and meet all of their fall application deadlines.

Learn How Your High School Supports College Applications

Each high school has a specific process for how they send supporting documents to colleges. This includes high school transcripts, a school profile that describes the school’s curriculum and student demographics, and counselor and teacher recommendations. In some cases students have to log into their school’s student management software and request documents weeks in advance. This information is often available on the pages for your school’s counseling center, but it might be in an email or a presentation you haven’t read yet. If you cannot explain your school’s process and timeline, this is something to find out before break. You don’t want to miss an application deadline, because you didn’t follow directions or submit your request early enough.

Ask Teachers if They Will Write Letters of Recommendation.

Many colleges require or consider letters of recommendation from teachers. You should approach teachers now and ask if they are willing to be one of your recommenders. They give them a “brag sheet” that briefly outlines your contributions and achievements in their class. The brag sheet is a starting point they can use for writing the letter of recommendation. If you want them to write about how you added to class discussions or were supportive of other students, give them examples of that. If you want the letter to focus on your academic ability, remind them of when you went above and beyond the classroom requirements. Some teachers and high schools will have a standard format for brag sheets (see the first item about knowing your school’s process). If they don’t have a form to follow, this brag sheet for letters of recommendation from Common App will get you started.

Who should write letters of recommendation for college applications?

Colleges specify in their applications if they require a recommendation from a Teacher and if they allow additional recommendations from Others like coaches and employers. Military college programs like the Naval Academy or ROTC scholarships may require recommendations from teachers of specific classes like English and Math. You probably want to approach a couple teachers from core academic areas (English, math, science, history/social sciences, and/or foreign language). But if you have a great relationship with one of your elective teachers, they could be a good option too. 

Get a Copy of Your Transcript with Grades

After your final grades post, you’ll want to get a copy of your high school transcript. Most applications have a place to input your high school courses and grades. You’ll want to have the transcript so you can use the same course name in your application and correctly input each of your grades. This will also remind you of items you want to address in an additional information section.

When the last day of school arrives, celebrate knowing that you can enjoy a much needed break and also that you have what you need to work on applications and essays over the summer.

Related: How to Write a “Why Us” College Essay

Street sign for College Ave
College Planning

Research a College Without a Visit

Many students can’t visit all the colleges they want to know more about. Cost, schedule conflicts, and covid campus closures might make the dream of a college tour road trip too hard to make a reality. On the other hand, its essential that students learn about a wide array of colleges. There are many great colleges across the US and most high school students only have a shallow basis for knowing about them. So how can you research a college without a college tour?

Databases for College Research

Some of the most important information about colleges is also the easiest to find, if you know where to look. Admissions statistics, graduation rates, annual costs, and even how many students complete each degree program is available in either the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data submitted to the Department of Education or the Common Data Set (which is usually available on individual college websites). These two data sets are the backbone of most college search engines.

College Navigator Has Data Reported to the Government

College Navigator is one of the first places I go to research a college. This site uses IPEDS data and is an easy source of data on admissions rate, graduation rate, and how large specific degree programs are. The Net Price section is useful for private colleges, because it gives a sense of the actual Net Cost of Attendance at different family income levels. WARNING: For public colleges the Net Price info listed is only for students paying in state tuition. If you apply from out of state, you may pay a much higher tuition rate. College Scorecard takes the same IPEDS data and pairs it with information on post-graduation income and loan debt for specific fields of study. If you are unsure of your intended field of study, this may help visualize possible return on investment for different programs.

Common Data Set Has More Details

A college’s Common Data Set has two sections I find particularly helpful for college research. Section C includes information about admissions for first-time freshmen, including what factors are Very Important, Important, Considered, and Not Considered. For example, Washington State University has a 2020-21 CDS that lists GPA and Rigor of Secondary School Record as Very Important, but Standardized Test Scores, Interviews, and Level of Applicant’s Interest are Not Considered. This means Washington State University does not track if a student toured campus, attended online info sessions, or met with an admissions rep.

CDS Section C is also where you can find test score and GPA distributions for enrolled freshmen as well as some data on Early Decision and admissions waitlists. Because Common Data Set reports are stashed in different places on college websites, I usually search for [Name of College] Common Data Set and look for the most recent report.

Research the College on a Virtual Visit

Before 2020, some colleges had experimented with online “virtual tours.” These were usually photos of the main buildings on campus, with a recorded presentation by a peppy student. But for college research, they leave me a little cold. They often feel like an architectural tour, but it can be hard to feel like you know the school well and the tours tend to blur together.

As a result of Covid, most colleges created virtual information sessions and ways for prospective students to connect without coming to campus. Fortunately, many schools have kept these virtual options available. I try to look for virtual information sessions from admissions staff, live tours with a student guide where they respond to questions, one on one meetings with students or advisors, and virtual college presentations. Many college fairs have gone online, but I’ve heard a lot of college reps say that attendance is lower than normal. This means if you pop into a session during a college fair, you might be able to chat one on one with the admissions rep for your area.

Research the College Using Its Website

College websites are a goldmine for college research, if you have patience and a willingness to dig around. College websites can be a little confusing, since they usually serve many different interests and were built over many years. But as a general rule, you’ll find tabs for Admissions, Academics, and Student Life (or similar wording).

Admissions usually describes the process and timeline for applying to the college, with different pages for Undergraduate First Time Freshmen and Transfers as well as Graduate applicants. Links to financial aid and scholarship info might be in this section too.

Academics is where you’ll find descriptions of majors and minors, as well as college wide degree requirements. You should also look for links to individual colleges, schools, or departments that are smaller administrative organizations within the college or university. For example, Washington State University has 11 separate colleges, including the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, which in turn has 8 different schools and departments for different disciplines (including some at satellite campuses).

More on Researching College Majors

If you were looking for news about engineering wide support like the Living Learning Community or student clubs that would be in the College of Engineering pages. If you want to compare 4 year course plans for Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, that would be in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering section. These pages will give you a different perspective of life as an engineering student than if you were to just read the WSU catalog descriptions for Mechanical Engineering.

Obviously, students do more than just go to classes, and social life on campus can be a big factor in choosing where to attend. Tabs for Student Life or similar terms usually have information on housing, clubs, recreation, student dining, and support programs.

Be Creative in your College Research

This is related to the suggestion to dig into the pages for specific programs and departments. Look for videos or podcasts that feature departments, majors, and clubs you care about. Sometimes you’ll get a different sense of what programs or the school than what the admissions marketing department produces. This video explains a research project by Washington State University engineering students that explores how to remove space dust from areas like air locks (don’t miss the astronaut doll in kevlar “space suit” as a test object). And sometimes you’ll find videos with behind the scenes views of campus. For example, I found this video showcasing the Washington State University Engineering Shops. Note that neither of these videos were from the main Washington State University YouTube channel.

Good Outside Sources for College Research

College guide books have been around for a long time now. Think of these as the movie review of the college world. They usually give the highlights of what a college is known for, written either by a campus research team or individual students. A few I like include the Fiske Guide to Colleges (updated annually), Insider’s Guide to Colleges (each entry is written by 1-2 students at the school), and Colleges That Change Lives (in depth descriptions, but could use a refresh).

There are now a lot of outside review sites that try to crowdsource information about colleges. Because these are often written by anonymous students, you don’t really know what their experience or motivation is. Read these with an eye towards trends that are mentioned by many reviews, so you don’t get sucked into one person’s drama. A couple that may be worth your time include Unigo and Campus Reel.

greyscale photography of condenser microphone
College Applications, Interviews

College Admissions Interview Prep with LinkedIn

You might think of LinkedIn as something to use years from now when you are job hunting after graduation. But the platform helps more than just job seekers. There are features that can also help you research colleges and prepare for college admissions interviews.

How to Use LinkedIn to Practice College Interviews

In the Jobs tab [in the top menu on the desktop version] there is a link for Interview Prep. This opens up sets of frequently asked interview questions. They resemble the types of questions that admissions reps and alumni interviews also use.

Tell me about yourself.
What is your greatest strength?
Tell me about a time you were successful on a team.

Even the questions that refer to employment can be easily reframed for college admissions.

Why do you want to work here?” becomes “Why do you want to attend our college?”

Can you explain your employment gap?” resembles questions about dropping activities or moving high schools. It’s really asking about the context of information in your record.

What are your salary expectations?” could help you prepare for a conversation with admissions or financial aid to appeal a financial aid offer.  

Each question has an overview that explains what an interviewer might hope to get from asking it. Remember that the purpose of any college admissions interview question is to help the interviewer learn more about who you are and what your story is.

Use the Video Tool to Practice Your Interview

What’s more, there is a feature that allows you to record an answer to each question. This lets you see what you look like in an interview scenario, where you lose your place, or if you have distracting fidgets. It also shows you what your pace and intonation are, so you can see if you tend to speed up or get higher pitched as you answer.

Since remote interviews will probably stick around after the pandemic, it gives you a chance to view your lighting and background as it might appear during an interview. If you have friends or mentors who also use LinkedIn, you can even send them your video and ask for feedback.

I really like this feature and think practicing responses to the questions in the Common Questions section would prepare you well for most college admissions interviews.