The thought of receiving the letter to a dream school is enough to make anyone anxious, and City High seniors are experiencing this first hand. Now that the pressure of applications is slowly lifting, seniors look back on on this important time that will define who they become.

“This is one of your only times when you can just share the things that you are really great at,” Kara Hartley ’13 said.

Throughout this application process guidance counselor Eric Peterson worked closely with the seniors. He says that schools want to know what they have been involved in during their high school career.

“They want to see that the individual is doing more than just school,” Peterson said.

Schools are looking for a student who isn’t just involved in the bare minimum. This idea of what John Bacon describes as the qualities of a “well rounded student” was very prominent in the answers of all who were interviewed.

Along with Bacon and Peterson, Senior Admissions Counselor at the University of Iowa Laura Goddard says that one of the many things that administrators look for particularly when it comes to scholarships is that the student has challenged themselves by expanding their horizons and not being afraid to try new things.

“Being able to go through and check all the things that I was involved in made being busy all the time with lots of activities really pay off,” Hartley said.

While most state schools look for just the core classes, private schools have higher expectations.

“Private schools in particular look for if a student isn’t involved in very much, but they are in leadership positions,” Peterson said.

So this means that even if a student is not in every club at City High, if they strive to put themselves in leadership positions, they can more appealing on applications, and also get more experience on how to take charge.

Grade point average is a very emphasized aspect of a student’s high school career, but it may not be the most important aspect of the application? Goddard says that for most general admittances to schools students need to only have completed the core classes. However, she also said that for a lot of scholarships, students who take more honors and AP classes but have a lower GPA than someone who takes the bare minimum and has a higher GPA are normally considered better applicant because of how they show that they are willing to challenge themselves.

“A student’s GPA will take care of itself if [the student] is willing to work hard,” Mr. Bacon said. “Through hard work, students are able to earn a very solid grade point average.”

Then, of course, there is the stress of picking the schools to apply to. Mr. Peterson says that in his experience there have been many times when students plan to apply to schools, they know very little about the campuses.

“It’s never too early to be thinking about college,” Peterson said. “Try to visit college campuses”.

Laura Goddard says that there are the “big three” that she encourages students to consider when applying for a school. Academics, make sure that the school that you are applying to find out if the school has the major that you are interested in. Atmosphere, visit the campus to see if you still like the school after you have been there, and consider the possibility that if your major changes, will you still want to be there. And lastly, cost, which can be helped with financial aid or scholarships, but you have to also be realistic. Goddard also suggests that once you choose a school, if you plan on applying for housing, do it sooner than later.

A big part of the application process is a lot of times writing the essays. For some people this is very easy but for many, the essays become just another thing to worry about. Two seniors, Hartley and Francesca Lubecki-Wilde ‘13, offer some advice for students when they are writing essays. Kara said that students should never procrastinate when it comes to essays and Francesca says that it is a good idea to make a calendar right away so that you can keep track of the different deadlines that you will have to meet.

“It was really hard to determine what important things to include and what I could cut out,” Hartley said.

Francesca said that when she wrote her essays she really wrote from the heart and that she made sure “that every word had a purpose”.

So as this school year comes to an end, and the class of 2013 scramble to meet deadlines, or wait in anticipation for the letter that could change their life one last piece of advise comes from Mr. Bacon.

“Don’t be afraid to aim high, be bold, and shoot for the stars,” Bacon said.