As the second semester comes into full swing, our seniors can feel graduation creeping closer. With graduation comes plans for the future. The college admissions process is no joke and can be quite confusing when it comes to deadlines, housing deposits, scholarship applications and beyond.

Applications: deadlines,

Not all application deadlines have passed, and many people may feel as if they’re still “racing” to finish their essays and resumes, while still putting their best foot forward.

College and career counselor, Mrs. Wood has this advice for anyone looking for some guidance.

“Find the school that’s the best fit for you, and make sure everything is submitted with at least 2 weeks prior to the deadline,” Wood said. “That way there’s time for CollegeBoard and ACT Scores to get [to the institution], along with transcripts and any final things needed to complete the application.”

“I’ve been accepted… now what?”

Congratulations! Making it into a college is something to celebrate, but is also a call to action. Ahead of you are still orientations, housing decisions, and much more. While it can be tough to manage it all, it is doable.

“Once they’re accepted, they need to make sure they do things on their checklist,” Wood said. “They need to complete things like a housing application, and updated [meningitis] shot records.”

Freshman orientation is another huge part of the process and has much more in store for you than just tours of campus and learning cheers.

“The sooner they sign up for an orientation, the better their course selection is going to be for next year.” Wood said. “The later they have an orientation date, the worse the classes get. So, you may have a Friday class at 5 pm or a Monday class at 8 am if you wait for a later orientation date.”

All things scholarships

Everyone wants to save money when it comes to their education, and scholarships are a great way to do that. However, with the sea of applications out there, it can be difficult to know where to start.

“If they joined the class of 2019 remind, they have been sent scholarships periodically throughout the semester.” Wood said. “They are also located on the ‘College and Career Center’ page under ‘Seniors’. There is a full scholarship page just for that and they are updated weekly.”