Focus of the 2023 High School Graduate
The United States is still a little uncertain about whether we are past the pandemic. For many areas of the country, it is still affecting jobs and/or how jobs are done. Students at all levels have been on school campuses all year but face an uncertain summer as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across most of the country.
At the moment, most everyone is making plans to enjoy a summer that looks more like they did pre-COVID, unless you are a rising senior. The students for which the end of the 2021-2022 school year means they will become seniors are still wrestling with the fallout from COVID-19. The pandemic caused colleges to coin new and sometime-confusing terms like test blind, test optional and test flexible to go along with the varying admissions options like rolling admissions, early action, early decision and early admission. Also, Texas families not only have had to adapt to completing the FAFSA application as a high school graduation requirement, but questions on the form is also changing for the 2023 graduating class.
The college application process has always been at best, a little confusing. It has recently turned into somewhat of a minefield for many families. The way to avoid making a wrong step that could cost thousands of extra dollars or result in more rejection letters than acceptance letters is to do your research and do it early.
My advice can be distilled down to a commonsense approach that is good for almost any situation. Plan ahead and allow yourself plenty of time. With college admissions for the graduating class of 2023 in Texas, that will look like the following:
领英推荐
·?Access the FAFSA application at fafsa.gov and read through the questions so that you can become familiar with what it requires. Having time to ask questions and do a little research will remove fear and uncertainty and guarantee that exempt income and savings are not reported.
·?Whittle your college list down to less than 10 colleges by the time summer break arrives. If you can’t write a definitive and convincing statement explaining why a college has been included on your list, take it off. Remember, you can only accept admission at one of them…
·?Consider which applications are accepted by the schools on your list and their essay requirements. Minimize the number of each to maximize efficiency. And start working on your application files now. The application process has gotten a little tougher, but after dealing with the pandemic, so have you.