Adding last minute colleges to their list? Busy with school work? Having trouble with time management? There are a number of reasons students are racing against the clock to finish up supplemental essays for applications.
Here are a few tips for students to help them get everything done before the final deadline with as little stress as possible.
- Get organized. Make a list or spreadsheet of all of the schools on your list, required essays, and their deadlines. While this may feel overwhelming, it’s the best way to get all of the necessary information in one place. Prioritize essays in the order of which they are due. This will give you a wide overview of what you need to complete.
- Look at the topics of your essays to find overlap. Many supplemental essays for different schools will have similar prompts. For example, many colleges will ask “Why are you interested in studying the major you chose?”. This is a great opportunity to write one essay that can be slightly tweaked depending on word count for each college.
- Don’t procrastinate, and do a little bit each day. Set a schedule for the days leading up to the upcoming deadlines. For example, prioritize essays for one school for the next three days, then move on to another, and only focus on one school at a time. You can also prioritize by essay topic (why major, why school, and so on).
- Finally, make use of your counselor and essay coach! If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, your Galin team is here to help you. You can always set up extra meetings, and we can work with you to set out a course of action with as little stress as possible.
The college application process is not going to ever be without stress. That said, your Galin team is here to help every step of the way. You got this!
