So Much College Mail!

College mail...so much college mail. Not to say it isn't exciting, but it's also extremely stressful! All of these schools sending all of these brochures..right when I think I know where I want to go, I get a new piece of mail from a college I had never even considered and all of the sudden all previous plans are irrelevant--I have a new path for my future. It's ridiculous! As if I'm not fickle or indecisive enough already. 

Even with all of this college mail though, I feel like I'm getting closer to where I want to be regarding picking a school that I would like to go to. I'm applying to nine schools--I know I'm crazy: Rutgers University in New Jersey, Loyola University in New Orleans, Belmont University in Nashville, Rhodes in Memphis, Mizzou in Columbia Missouri, St. Louis University in St. Louis, Memphis College of Art, UT Knoxville and lastly, Savannah College of Art and design! My top three are Loyola, Rutgers and Belmont. Thankfully I've gotten most of my materials into all of these schools. All I have to do for Loyola is audition and send in a portfolio and all I have to do for Belmont is send in a portfolio. All the other schools I still need to send in my ACT scores--which, may I add, is ridiculously and unexpectedly expensive.

I do have a few tips for people that haven't gotten to this point in their life yet; a few things to do before the time comes and you begin applying to schools. 

1) SAVE UP SOME EXTRA MONEY THROUGHOUT HIGH SCHOOL! Its absolutely ridiculous how much applying to schools costs! You have to pay for application fees (can range from $30-$80), you have to pay to send in your ACT and SAT scores ($12.00 each time you send them in), you have to pay to send in portfolios through slideroom--an application most schools require you to use if you want to send in an art/photography portfolio to be considered for scholarships--which costs around $35, you have to pay for applications to some scholarships (young arts scholarship has a $35 fee every time you apply). Its all ridiculous and unnecessary, but completely unavoidable. 

2) Start taking the ACT and SAT at the beginning of your Junior year, it gives you more time to get the score you want. I waited until February of my Junior year and I really regret that. I just took my last ACT, expecting to get a 30, and I only got a 28. I have one more chance to take it in October and if that doesn't work out for me I don't know what I'll do. 

3) Get an ACT tutor and really put effort into studying for the ACT. You will be so happy that you did when you get the 30 or 32. And why waste the money on a tutor if you aren't going to put any extra effort in? If you only work practice problems for her an hour every week, you won't improve much. I know from experience. I had a tutor that came and helped me with math and science once a week for two months and my score only went up a point because I never did any outside of tutoring practice. 

4) Don't wait until the last minute to start your applications. I assume it's really really stressful. There are deadlines that you have to meet and they come really quickly. I started applying to schools early August and everything has been going pretty well for me. I recommend starting as early as you can. And honestly, most applications only take 10-15 minutes to fill out; its all the extra stuff--recommendations, essays, transcript requests, etc--that take forever to get the ball rolling on. 

5) Don't use the common app if you don't have to. Filling out a college's application online or on paper shows them that you have a genuine interest in their school.