Prep for College!

My answer is yes, before you even start your senior year. Though some people think that starting college prep before your senior year or even in the beginning of your senior year can cause a burn out. But I have learned from personal experience that college prep is very overwhelming and waiting to prepare is what can actually cause a burn out.

Most people at Oak Hill don’t really started thinking about college until their junior year. I still didn’t seriously start prepping and thinking about where I actually want to go until my senior year. Even then I wasn’t really prepared enough for the stress and chaos that was to come. It didn’t help that I didn’t really have parents that could help me with the whole process because neither of them went to college. It’s so important to find people, whether that be your parents, teachers or guidance counselors, that can help and support you through the entire process. I had my guidance counselor at the beginning of the year that helped me a lot but the college process really changed when my business teacher started to help me with the process. They both worked together to support me in the process which was my game changer, if I didn’t have the both of them to support me and help me I would have gone crazy with the stress of college.

There are so many turns in college prep, from the beginning of the year when I wanted to go to a school like Bates to now when I am fully committed to UMaine. It is so important to have a support system through this process. These turns are also what is so important in starting the process early. If I would have started in my college prep at least the summer before my senior year I would have had a lot less stress when filling out common apps and fafsa. The other problem with college prep is that you’re still in high school and you still have school work to do. It is a lot of work to balance out all of the feelings of leaving high school and starting the rest of your life.

People may think that the stress of college prep will be to much for their high school seniors and too much college prep may cause a burn out. But the stress is 10 times worse if they wait until halfway through their senior year to start their prep, that is what will cause the burn out. So yes , I think that college prep should start at least the summer before your senior year, but if you aren’t able to do that, a strong support system will get you through it. I didn’t start my college prep until my senior year, which I wish I would have started a little sooner but the support system that was created by my guidance counselor and my business teacher was what got me through the stress and chaos created by college prep.

“University College” by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.