Navigate the Path
to College

Common misconception: students believe they don't need to be concerned about this until application time or later. Why is this a misconception? This is a big decision — probably the biggest decision of your life at the moment. You will put a lot of attention to this question and it will require time. Also, don't forget that we tend to procrastinate when we are stressed out. Read our guide on choosing your major and career path.

Reading habit is slowly disappearing and we all know the culprit. The truth is that learning and reading are closely related to each other. Make sure you read a wide variety of genres, including fiction, non-fiction, investigative reports, and more. See our book recommendations for where to start.

High school is the time to find out how you learn best. Pro tip: don't rely on memorization. Memorization may work in middle school, but it won't work in high school and is definitely going to backfire in college.

School teachers probably won't help you understand much about artificial intelligence. Students need to learn how to acquire different AI tools to explore limitless possibilities. Your experience — successful or not — could be the main content you write in your college essay. Read our guide on how students can use AI.

Research each school using the current year's data — it won't change much year after year. Information to gather includes, but is not limited to: application deadline (EA/ED/Regular), tuition cost, number of essays required and their respective topics, and housing cost. Do not rely on AI to find the results for you. You must check the primary source for accurate information.

This is a major blind spot for many parents and students. Each college publishes degree plans that outline every course you will take over four years — and without reviewing them, you have no idea what you are committing to. There will be unfamiliar courses on the list, and you can use AI, Reddit, and official course catalogs to learn what they cover. If the coursework genuinely excites you, great. If you have no idea what half the courses are about, now is the perfect time to find out — before you commit. And if the courses don't interest you at all, it may be time to reevaluate whether that major is the right fit.

It's a common problem that students skip the outlining process or only produce a very weak outline. The outcomes may include: (1) disorganized essays; (2) wasted valuable time for rewriting; (3) incoherent voice throughout the essay; and/or (4) disproportionate emphasis on the content of the essay. Each one of these four outcomes is going to be fatal, and they are all avoidable by spending good effort in the planning stage. See our essay writing strategies for guidance.

You may still make changes, but there must be a significant reason to trigger any change. If you find any discrepancy, you will, of course, modify it to improve. However, you want to make sure the outline is ready to use for your actual essay writing process.

Most students don't get their draft started until the summer, and that is way too late. Students will be rushing, stressing out what to write and how to write. Don't be like them.

Many students wait until the beginning of senior year to ask for teacher recommendations. This is late for two reasons: (1) Teachers are usually very busy at the beginning of the school year. There is a chance they will forget and/or wait until the last moment to submit. Worse, they could miss the deadline. It is also uncomfortable for students to remind their teachers to submit letters of recommendation. (2) You should know which teachers you will ask for a recommendation by the middle of junior year. Having this request done before the end of junior year shows that you genuinely care about your admission process and you respect your teachers by giving them ample time to write the letter. Read our tips for requesting recommendation letters.

You will have a 30-day period to buffer in case you are lagging behind for any reason. The goal is simple: submit your college application before your first day of senior year.

Benefits: (1) Less stress and distractions in your senior year. Students might think they still have time to work on their application package. Yes, they do have time, but there are other tasks competing for that scarce amount of time: extracurricular activities, school tests and quizzes, social events, and more. (2) By submitting your application early, you may increase your chance of acceptance, increase the likelihood of getting a scholarship, and know your application result as early as September for schools that do rolling admission.

You are waiting for the results, but the thought process does not need to wait. You can play out different scenarios so that you are mentally prepared. There is really no point to wait until you hear from the college or university and then decide — unless you have to decide between different majors. Still, you can develop these scenarios ahead of time. Hint: use AI as a tool to keep track of different decision possibilities.

Do not wait until the very last day to submit your packages. You should always aim at submitting at the earliest possibility because you don't gain anything by waiting.

It is very common that advisors and counselors will help you register your first semester classes during orientation. Scheduling a later orientation date means you are losing the chance to enroll in good classes.