Accepted! - A Monthly Guide to College Applications and Admission to Any School

By Alpha Academia

Any high school student can get into their best fit school with a little planning and a little information. This book will give you both.

The entire college application process and everything you could possibly want to know about building the best application possible is in this book. Each month of your high school career has been assigned a specific topic with a specific task to accomplish. By taking it one month at a time you will reduce your stress and increase the likelihood that you get accepted into your first choice school.

Join Sarah Ballard of Alpha Academia on your journey to college. Sarah has never been rejected from a single school, including the Ivy League, graduate school, and law school. She is a Georgetown University and Law Center Alumna who won more than $150,000 in scholarships, did a major fellowship, and has helped select new undergrads and fellowship winners.

Sarah knows what admissions officers are looking for, and she has been good at giving it to them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329509627

Book preview

Accepted! - A Monthly Guide to College Applications and Admission to Any School

Accepted!

A Monthly Guide to College Applications

and Admission to Any School

By Sarah Ballard

Owner & Founder

Alpha Academia

Copyright © by Sarah Ballard of Alpha Academia

All rights reserved.  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America

First printing, 2015

ISBN 978-1-329-50962-7

Lulu Press, Inc.

3101 Hillsborough St.

Raleigh, NC  27607

www.lulu.com

www.AlphaAcademia.com

Introduction

The arms race of college admissions has gotten so hot that students routinely apply to a dozen schools and start polishing their resumes during the freshman year of high school to get the edge they need to be competitive.  Parents are growing increasingly anxious over their children’s prospects as standardized testing, extracurricular activities, and application packages grow more and more important and complex.

College counseling businesses are charging up to $500 an hour to help students and parents navigate the process.  This is making the best schools, and the best fit schools, increasingly out of reach to those without access to elite resources and information.  Guidance counselors at typical high schools are overwhelmed and simply do not have the time or resources to devote to comprehensive college admissions counseling.

The truth, however, is that any high school student can get into their best fit school with a little planning and a little information.  This book will give you both.

The entire college application process and everything you could possibly want to know about building the best application possible is in this book.  Each month of your high school career has been assigned a specific topic with a specific task to accomplish.  By taking it one month at a time you will reduce your stress and increase the likelihood that you get accepted into your first choice school.

Skim the entire book now to get oriented, and then get started based on where you are in high school.  If you’re a sophomore, junior, or senior, take a look back at the early chapters and see what is still useful to you.  You don’t have to take every suggestion in the book, but at least you’ll have the information!

About the Author

Sarah Ballard has never been rejected from a single school to which she applied.  This includes the Ivy League, graduate school, and law school.  She has also won more than $150,000 in competitive, merit scholarships.

Sarah is a Georgetown University and Law Center alumna.  After college, Sarah was endorsed to compete for the Rhodes Scholarship and then won the George Mitchell Scholarship.  Sarah has her Masters and her Juris Doctor.  She has worked for a major consulting firm, and now has an exciting and prestigious job in the federal government.  She has read and reviewed applications for the Mitchell and Fulbright scholarships, and she has volunteered to do admission interviews at the undergraduate level.

Beyond that, her friends are in every professional sector imaginable, so she always has first-hand information at her fingertips!

In short, Sarah knows how to assemble winning applications, write powerful essays, and craft attention-grabbing resumes.

Also, she’s not too far out of the process herself.  Sarah graduated Georgetown University in 2006 and law school in May 2010.  Sarah has helped her younger siblings successfully apply to college, has done some contract college application consulting, and has just started her own college counseling business.

Sarah knows what admissions officers are looking for, and she has been good at giving it to them.

About Alpha Academia

Alpha Academia is a college coaching firm built around the principle that all students should be empowered with the information and tools to build their best possible college application and make acceptance to their ideal school a reality.  Alpha Academia seeks to leverage online platforms such as online video courses and this e-Book to make expert college admissions advice broadly accessible and affordable.

Alpha Academia wants to level the playing field of college admissions and make sure that every student with the drive to compete can do so successfully.

We hope you find this book to be an invaluable and comprehensive guide.  We also invite you to check out our website at www.AlphaAcademia.com to find our video courses, free resources page, and our Facebook and Twitter pages where you’ll get up-to-the-moment articles and commentary on what’s new in the college admissions world.

Your college admissions fate is yours to write with Alpha Academia.  We give you all the tips and tools.  You have to devote the time and willpower.

Good luck! 

Freshman Year

September:  Settle into classes

Finalize your schedule for the semester, and settle into your classes.  This is no time to stress about what will happen three years from now.  The best thing you can do for yourself is to get accustomed to high school and get the best grades you can.  If there is a club or two you want to join, by all means, go ahead, but this year should be devoted to your classes and grades.  A strong start will give you the momentum to build on your success.

Establish a routine that gets all of your work done, allows for some review time, and gives you enough time to unwind and sleep.  Find a way to keep track of your homework, your meetings, and your family activities.  Some students keep an assignment book.  Some students make lists or use Post-it notes.  Others program everything into their cell phones.  This can take a few weeks of trial and error to figure out what works best for you, but once you do, you’ll be glad you did.

Having some difficulty adjusting to high school classes is entirely normal.  Your courses are harder, and this may be the first time that you have homework in every course every night.  You may also find that you have to study for the next day’s class and not just for tests.  Try reading material ahead of time so that you understand it when the teacher goes over it.  Try reading difficult assignments twice, once straight through and then once highlighting or taking notes.  Flashcards are always good for learning formulas, rules, and vocabulary.  If all else fails, ask you teacher for advice on how best to study the material.  Your teacher will be impressed by your maturity in asking for help, and you will benefit by developing efficient study habits early.

If, after the first few weeks you find your classes far too easy or far too hard, do not hesitate to talk to your teachers and your guidance counselors.  Schedule changes are more easily made early on than if you wait a month or two.

October:  Burn no bridges

Hopefully your first assignments have gone well, you’ve made friends, and you’re haven’t bitten off more than you can chew.  A word about your reputation might be in order here while it is still early.  High school can be a crazy, drama-filled experience where you can make enemies faster than friends and you can get into serious trouble with the law.  Do yourself a favor right now – don’t drink, don’t do drugs (of any kind), and be nice to everyone (even the people who deserve to be actively hated).

Watch yourself on social media.  Keep a Facebook page, but be very careful what ends up on it.  Keep your privacy settings high—as in, only allow people you have acknowledged as your friends to see what you post.  Don’t let pictures on there that you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see.  Don’t post things about others that they wouldn’t want their grandmothers to read.  More and more, college admissions committees and employers are Googling applicants and checking out their social media presence.  Guess what—once it is on the internet, it is almost impossible to erase. 

As you join organizations and clubs, you want to make friends so that eventually you have a chance at being chosen for leadership roles.  This is important for your resume and applications for college, scholarships, and any awards.  Because you’re reading this, presumably this matters to you.

Why else is your reputation important for your college applications?  Not to scare you, but what you do now could come back to haunt you in a few years when applying to schools.

Three examples:

1. Teachers, guidance counselors, and perhaps even a peer will need to write letters of recommendation.  You will likely never see what is in these letters.  The last thing you want is a nasty surprise by someone who has an ax to grind.

2. On almost every application is some question to the effect of: Have you ever been arrested or disciplined for your conduct in school or in the community?  You REALLY want to be able to truthfully check the no box and move on without giving it a second thought.

3. If you are applying to the most competitive schools in the country, know this—most of those schools will only admit one or two students from any given high school (with very few exceptions).  If you aren’t the valedictorian, you may need to call in favors.  When I was in high school, I was the first ranked student, and I agreed not to apply to certain schools I wasn’t really interested in (like Harvard, even though the acceptance letter would have been pretty cool) so that my classmates really could have a shot.  I wouldn’t have done that for just anyone.  Be the person that someone else would do that kind of favor for.

So do yourself a favor – be nice and be honest.  You don’t need to be Homecoming court popular, but it would help a great deal if you avoided doing something that could come back to bite you later.

November:  Enlist your guidance counselor

If you haven’t already, schedule a short appointment with your guidance counselor.  Many schools have a set schedule for when counselors meet with freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors and will get to you eventually.  Typically, a counselor will meet with the senior class first during the course of the year to work through college applications and graduation requirements.  By November, however, your counselor should have a little time for you, even after school.

Why do you need to introduce yourself now?  First, on average, guidance counselors are responsible for 50 students in each class.  Unfortunately, it is tough to keep track of two hundred students and their different needs and goals.  Most times, the first time a counselor will meet a student is when the student needs something or is in trouble.  You, however, will introduce yourself before that.

What should you talk about?  Talk about yourself, your interests, and your goals.  A good counselor will be able to make suggestions of classes, clubs, and other opportunities that you would have a difficult time finding out about on your own. Ask for their advice, even if you think you are all set.  It is in your best interest to make your guidance counselor like you and want to help you.  They will take a few notes, and maybe down the line they will think of you for opportunities that come to their attention.  Later on, they will play a significant role in getting you the classes you want and then helping with your college application process.

Likely, there will be problems in the next couple of years where you will need your guidance counselor’s help.  Your schedule might get messed up. You might want to take advantage of an outside opportunity and need support getting it approved.  You might want to skip a pre-requisite or do something a little different and need someone to go to bat for you.  You should make sure you’re able to go to and trust your guidance counselor to help.

One more tip – get to know how things work in your guidance office.  You can’t work the system to your advantage without knowing how it works.  Is there a secretary who controls everyone’s appointment calendars?  Is your counselor particularly overworked? Would it be helpful if when you wanted something you already have researched it and prepared so all the counselor needs to do is sign off?  Or is their personality such that everything needs to be their idea?  Even things as small as whether your counselor prefers phone calls or emails will help you out quite a bit.

December:  Gut check on grades

Nearing the halfway point in your first year, it is a good time to take an honest look at your grades.  You may or may not be about to take midterms, and with the Holidays approaching, you will have a little time to do some reflection.

What are your grades in each of your classes?  If you haven’t kept track, ask your teachers to give you a progress report when they have a chance.  Could your grades be better?  What would it take to get them higher?  This is both a question of numbers and effort.  First, if you run the numbers of the work completed and the work to still be done, is it possible to raise your grade?  By how much?

Second, do you feel like you could put more time and effort into your studies?  Be honest. 

If the answer is no, but you are still unhappy with your grade, sit down with your teacher and ask for help.  Extra credit might be available, and by this point your teacher may have a better idea than you do about precisely where your weak points are.  If you could be putting in more time and effort, can you commit to doing it?  Do you need motivation?  Fewer distractions?  Think about how you could use your time most effectively and figure out how to make it happen.

How are your grades in comparison to those of your classmates?  This doesn’t mean you should be obsessing about your class rank just yet, but it does mean that you should get an idea of where you stand.  When it does come time to apply for college, you need to be both realistic and optimistic—not delusional and cocky.  Get an idea of where you stand now so that you can set goals for improvement and be able to see progress.

It also never hurts to make friends with the smart kid and study with the best.

January: Got a hobby?

Yes, this may sound a little hokey, but humor me.  One of the best sources of essay topics, interview question answers, and resume highlights is a unique hobby to which you have devoted significant attention.  It is also a good way to blow off steam and let your mind take a break for a little while.  Hobbies make you look interesting, well-rounded, and not as though you will only take the time to do something if it fills a line on the resume, comes with membership and leadership points, pays you, or is a group activity.

Do I mean go out and start a stamp collection?  Only if that is your thing.  But, for example, if you like to sing and/or perform in the school musical, think about collecting and learning Broadway soundtracks or operas.  It would be a relatively inexpensive hobby – you can probably rent the CDs at the library and burn them onto your iPod – and you’re probably listening to music all the time anyway.  Taking a little bit of effort and adding a little bit of focus could pay big dividends later.

Not a theater geek?  Sports buffs would do well to become experts on the history of their sport and favorite team.  You don’t have to go out and buy all the gear, but if you could recite all the Super Bowl winners in order or explain the Sabermetrics of Moneyball, you’d be surprised when that could come in handy.

Other ideas?

- Read all of the plays of Shakespeare or as much of Greek mythology as you can get your hands on

- Become an expert in a certain period of history or on a particular war.  Bonus points for collecting primary sources or visiting battle sites (keep pictures!)

- Design an iPhone App (or a few)

- Cook your way through an entire cookbook (like in the movie