A Pep Talk For Seniors Getting Ready to Submit!
If you're a high school senior hitting the middle of October, it is likely you are in the process of wrapping up your first set of college applications and getting ready to submit them in advance of early round deadlines!!
And it would not be surprising if you're feeling anxious and unsure about the work you've put together.
It's normal to second-guess, especially with lots of well-meaning people in your inner circle giving feedback at the very end of the process. And sometimes that feedback isn’t aligned! It can be tough to know what to do.
I’ve worked with high achieving young people for my entire 30-year career in higher education. Self-confidence is essential to achieving your goals; the biggest obstacle to success for high-achieving students is often the doubt that arises at the end of a long process. The support and advice of those closest to you is very important in this process, but their input can often inadvertently damage that self-confidence.
For Arthur Smith Advising students, one of the chief advantages of working with our terrific team of counselors is that they are coaches and teachers first, along with being experts in higher education. We love helping our students set goals that are both aspirational and practical! Our job is to empower and guide students to put together an application that reveals their strengths and attributes in an appealing and compelling way. Your counselors believe in you. If you are working with a counselor, I urge you, as you get ready to submit your applications, to trust that advisor! And trust your work as you approach the finish line.
So, as you get ready to submit, here are a few tips to get the most out of the people who want to help you while still maintaining your confidence when you hit that submit button.
HOW BEST TO ASK FOR HELP FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY
You should definitely review your Common App essays and supplement essays before submitting. And when reviewing your essays, it is certainly a great idea to share your work with the people closest to you!
But I suggest keeping that circle very small. In my experience, people want to be helpful, and they will go the extra mile to prove that they're helpful. That could mean going out of their way to find lots to fix when you ask them for help, just to prove their worth. That doesn't necessarily mean all of those issues needed to be fixed! Or sometimes their advice, while reasonable, doesn’t actually match up with the realities of today’s admissions world. Trust the work you and your counselor (who is an expert!) have done!
But there are still important ways to position those closest to you to be helpful.
When you ask for some final help with an essay, ask those closest to you, "Does this essay sound like me?" We want to make sure your essays are written by you, not an adult, and not your best friend. If you were to read it out loud, would somebody know that this was your voice, or that this story was about you? Yes, your essays need to be well-written and have a topic that is advantageous in the admissions process, but trust your counselor for that. Simply ask those closest to you if the essay captures an important aspect of who you are! After all, they might not be aware of the broader issues that appear in the rest of the application. They are just reading one piece of the puzzle. But they do know YOU. So keep their advice focused on what they know best … YOU.
Similarly, when you ask close friends and family to review parts of the application beyond the essays, such as your activities list and honors list or your resume, keep your request simple. Was anything missed? Resist the urge to reinvent the wheel at the last minute or to ask them to critique the entire product.
Your friends and loved ones can be invaluable when given a targeted task.
STAY COMMITTED TO YOUR GOALS
It is very normal at the end of any long-term process to want to switch things up, and perhaps even adjust your goals, whether by raising your sights higher or setting them lower. We often see this with a student’s list of colleges - some people get a bit of “stage fright” right before submitting, while others suddenly get very bold. Nothing wrong with pivoting and making a switch or two. But try to avoid panicking and adding more schools at the end of the process. More is not better. Trust the work you’ve done and submit great work, not more work. Stick to your plan.
At Arthur Smith Advising, we're committed to producing college lists that will provide each student with multiple appealing options. It's great to get excited about that one dream school, but remember, there are lots of great places out there. You should still be excited about your top choice, but as you get ready to submit, take a moment and appreciate the breadth of the list of colleges you've put together. It's all about having options!
TRUST YOURSELF
I coached track & field and cross country for 23 years at the Division I level, and one of the great performance inhibitors was when my athletes forgot or neglected to remember the hard work they put in when they toed the starting line of a race. Letting those doubts creep in too much often prevented them from achieving their goals.
You've done the work.
The hay is now in the barn. Trust that work.
It's time to submit!!