Introduction to The College Application

Applying to college can be one of the most daunting and important tasks you face as a teenager. Where you choose to apply, what you decide to put in your application, and what you learn from the process will have huge effects on the rest of your life. But for many, it’s also a very mysterious process. What should you write about in your essays? Which schools do you qualify for? How many schools should you even apply to? If you are a first-generation student like me, you might feel overwhelmed and have no idea where to start. Even those with professors for parents will likely feel anxiety when thinking about college admissions!

Fortunately, this map is here to address these exact concerns. In the following sections, I will cover all the components of the college application, how to best tackle them, and how to choose a school at the end of it. One thing to keep in mind: no one has a perfect application. Do not let a low GPA or confusion about the application process scare you away from trying! Every applicant has strengths and weaknesses, and it’s helpful to recognize your own. 

Another thing to keep in mind: there are more good schools than the Ivy League schools (the ones you probably know the names of and hear mentioned all the time - Harvard, Yale, Princeton,...). It will be enticing to aim for admission to these elite schools. And there’s nothing wrong with that! But don’t let the top schools be the only schools you apply to; because they’re elite and so well-known, they have very low admission rates. At the same time, they are not the only good schools. There are hundreds of good and great colleges out there just as worth attending - state schools, community colleges, many other public and private universities - and applying to a mix of them will maximize your chances of admission. As the chart below shows, the more schools you apply to, the higher the probability you get into one - so cast a wide net and keep an open mind.

Graph created by Alvin Christian