If you’re a college-bound student, I’m sure you’re always hunting for ways to get into your dream college. I can’t tell you how many articles I’ve read on how to get into Harvard, or how many times I’ve consulted family members and teachers on what I need to do to get accepted there. So because I want you to succeed, I’d love to share with you a few ways to get into your dream college that I’ve found. Follow these steps and universities will be begging you to apply!
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1. Maintain a High GPA
Of course, one of the key ways to get into your dream college is to maintain a high GPA. Ideally, you should begin high school with great grades and keep them up all the way until graduation. But if you had a slip up one year, don’t stress; your GPA is your grade point average, emphasis on the average. There’s always time to compensate for earlier mistakes with later successes when it comes to your academic achievement. But don’t ever slack off with hopes that "someday" it’ll all work out, you should aim to maintain a high GPA all through high school.
2. Get Involved
Getting involved in school is great not only for your personal enrichment but also for preparing for your dream college. Whether you’re interest is in drama, sports, or clubs, colleges will take notice of how well rounded you are. There was a time when you may have been able to get into top notch schools by solely being a good student, but competition for universities is higher now than ever. That’s why you need to show your dream school that you’re active and successful in many aspects of your life. This will be sure to help you come application time!
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3. Get Connected
Everyone can agree that having a connection to your intended college really helps come application time. I love, respect and admire my parents so much, but a part of me always wishes that one of them had attended Harvard so my application could get that extra boost! But your college doesn’t have to be one of your parent’s alma mater; try to get connected in other ways like getting to know the dean of admissions personally if you can. Also, see if your dream school has a summer program so you can meet some professors and maybe even have one of them write a letter of recommendation for you!
4. Stay Consistent
Consistency is a key component of your high school career if you’re college bound. This meaning that if you start, for example, choir during Freshman year, you’d better stick with choir through senior year. This shows commitment to colleges and ensures them that you don’t flip flop over your interests. If you don’t like any of the extracurriculars you began during your first year of high school, don’t miserably pursue them, just try to find something else you’re willing to devote yourself to for the rest of high school.
5. Volunteer
Volunteering shows that you’re active in your community, which colleges absolutely love! There’s no way to go wrong volunteering because you’re benefiting both yourself and your community. It doesn’t matter where you volunteer; you can volunteer with a community service club on campus or at a large community event. But the most important thing when volunteering: log your hours! This way you can tell colleges exactly how much you volunteered during high school.
6. Show Interest in Your Major
If you’re like me and dying to get into the Ivy League system, then this is a crucial part of your high school efforts. Ivy Leagues want students who have already taken strides in their intended major, but if you make an impact in your field you can impress any college from any university system. Ways to show interest in your major depend on what you plan on studying, but for an example, I’ll use myself. I want to major in literature, so I joined a writing club at my school and began publishing my own works outside of school. If you’d like to find out what you can do in your field before you graduate, look up what other people from your major did in high school to attract the attention of colleges.
7. Take Your SAT
How can three letters give me the chills? The SAT. It’s menacing, it’s extremely important, and it’s closer than you think. But don’t let that scare you away from taking College Board’s monster test. The SAT consists of three major components: math, critical reading, and writing. If you study hard, you can rock your SAT and impress colleges so much that you become irresistible to them! If you don’t do so hot, don’t worry about it because you can always retake them, the most important thing is simply that you take the SAT.
Colleges today seem like they’re becoming more and more elite. We should be proud of our generation for so eagerly seeking out a higher education, but that only means working harder to get into our dream schools. What is your dream school and what are you doing to get in? If you were fortunate enough to get accepted into your dream school, I’d love your advice too! What you did during high school to achieve such an accomplishment?
Comments
Michele: My dream school is the University of St. Thomas in Houston Texas. I was there for about four years and made straight A's. I was very close to the Dean of History & we both thought I'd b his assistant @ some point. But then I fell in love, had two children, and became sick for a number of years. Basically life got in the way of my future. But now I am divorced, living with my parents and cannot work for several more months. My goal is to become a substitute teacher, work some kind of job during the summer months, and attend a community college before returning to UST. I don't have much left because IM a senior, but with two children it makes everything more difficult. I'm not sure why I'm telling all of this to you and the world, I just want to become established and at some point be a professor of history at UST. I know I can do it, I know that I Will do it, I'm just so darn frustrated. I'm like a 18-year-old again but with kids. Fortunately I have an uncle who is a professor at UST and have been in contact with my mentor there. I just really need the money to pay for my education. My sister is helping out with my community college courses, to get me started. Which I am eternally grateful. Thank you for such an awesome website. You have helped me more than you know. Good luck with Your future and I pray I will accomplish all that I wish to. God bless!
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