Hi students, parents, readers, and writerly friends!

The last two times we spoke in Freelancing, we talked about college admissions essays and what YA Fiction gets wrong about college. This week, we’re continuing the discussion about college prep and when exactly you should be doing what to ensure you do the very best to get into the college of your dreams and stand a chance against the competition. This blog post does not go into detail about the college admissions essay, but I did write a post that deep dives into that, so click here to check it out.

Instead, this blog post will discuss what all you can do to prepare for college in high school so that you don’t end up in you senior year without a clue and application deadlines around the corner. I will go over how you can start preparing all the way in ninth grade and keep working towards college through to your senior year. This blog post is great for both parents who want their children to succeed and students with enough drive to take their education into their own hands. If you want to learn more about how to prepare for college throughout high school, keep reading!

Before we begin, you should know that colleges aren’t looking for superheroes; they’re looking for real, genuine, fantastic human beings. Honors, awards, and AP classes aren’t everything, but they certainly look great on your college application for sure. Colleges know that students can’t do everything, but that’s not the point. The college application is not a list of boxes to check and is not expecting perfection. Colleges want to know what you’re good at, what you like, what kind of great experiences you’ve had and what makes you, well, you. Of course you want to try and make the most of your high school experience but don’t burn yourself out and don’t strive for perfection. Instead look at it like this: you college application is a polished, positive representation of your academic career, your extracurricular activities and interests, and your notable experiences as a teenager. It’s as close to perfect as a snapshot into your life can get without being a full-blown resume.

Freshman and Sophomores will have a lot of foundational work, but Junior and Senior high school students will find they have the most work over all to do to prepare. The last two years of high school are the most intense by far—with classes wrapping up, final grades being posted, GPA’s being calculated, and deadlines approaching with each week, it can be hard to know when and where to start. First of all, there are three key things to remember: 1) it is never to early to start, 2) it is always a bad idea to wait until the last second, and 3) it is too early to worry. While college prep is important and academics should be taken seriously, don’t overstress yourself about the future. Remember, you are still a kid/teenager and you should get to experience high school while you can. By following these steps outlined in this post, you can effectively prepare over time instead of cramming everything into your senior year.

Freshman Year

What should you be doing to prepare for college in the ninth grade?  This is actually quite simple. Have fun, experience high school, make memories, and get involved. Don’t start stressing just yet, because you’re likely in your early teens, you’re still figuring life out and there’s no reason you need to have your future all planned out just yet. So, deep breath—you’ve got nothing to worry about. Instead, join or start clubs at your high school. Get involved with group activities like sports, choir, band, or drama. Join the student council or National Junior Honor’s Society. Consider how school clubs and extracurricular activities can give back to the community and start working on knocking out some community service hours early.

Highschool students heading to school. Photo by Stanley Morales.

But make sure no matter how you get involved, to have fun. Likewise, if you’ve done activities in middle school that you enjoyed, then consider doing them in high school as well. If you decide you’re ready for something new, set aside those shoulderpads or that old dusty trombone and pick up something new.  Life is all about experiences and colleges want to accept well-rounded individuals. Ninth grade is a great transition period and an opportunity to try things out, experiment with different hobbies, and to have fun all while learning more about yourself. Additionally, if you decide to try out an activity or club but decide it’s not for you, there’s no need to stick with it if its not a good fit.

On the other hand though, never let the activities get in the way of a stellar report card. I totally understand that eighth graders transitioning into ninth graders are put under a lot of stress. Most students are expected to carry a full course load, participate in all kinds of activites, take up a part-time job, learn to drive, all against the backdrop of the tumultuous experience of being a teenager. I get it. Years 12-18 can be a rough time even without all of the added stresses from school and work. Again, just take a deep breath and remember that good grades must always come first.

Of course you don’t have to do everything ever, but see what activities you can/would like to get involved with that you can also work around your schedule and workload that also leaves time for free time and self-care. Don’t just goof-off in your early high school years. One lesson I had to learn the hard was is that classes get increasingly more difficult as you progress through each grade. If you ace the easy, early classes, your GPA will fare far better in the long run. Start making your grades a priority now. Likewise, don’t wait until the last minute to remedy your struggling grades. If you’re having a tough time in any of your classes, seek help as soon as possible. The first place to get help with your studies is always your teacher. They are there to help you and will likely work with you one-on-one to help you get the material down. Ultimately, the success of your academic career is on you, and not your teachers. Show them you care and make an obvious effort they will help you succeed.

Students in class. Photo by Javier Trueba.

Sophomore Year

By your second year, you should have hit your stride in high school. Sophomores usually feel like they’ve got a pretty good grasp on the structure of high school, how to balance academics with activities, and many have a general idea of what is necessary to be successful in high school moving forward. Remember to drop any activities you find aren’t working for you and join any that you might like to get involved with. And of course, don’t forget to keep your grades on track. If you had a rough freshman year, then the stakes are higher for you in your sophomore year. But don’t panic, you still have time to turn your grades around and keep going on an upward trajectory.

With that being said, keep up the good work and continue making grades your number one priority. Now would even be a good time to ask if you are able to re-take any courses you received poor grades on, to try and correct your GPA early on, while there’s still time to do so. Additionally, consider enrolling for AP courses in your sophomore year. If freshman year was all about the newness of high school, experimenting, and transitioning, then sophomore year is about layering on the things you enjoy and giving yourself a bit of a challenge. It will vary student by student, but if your school offers AP classes, enrolling in a couple during your sophomore year is generally a good idea. Don’t go overboard with your first few AP classes. I’d say only take at maximum two AP classes if you’ve never taken an advanced class before. Consider meeting with a counselor and even with the AP professors to discuss what the workload will be like moving up from a regular to an Advanced Placement course.

Now, let’s talk about Sophomore-Junior Summer. You know, that sweet spot between the early years and the later years of high school, were you can start doing the heavy lifting and laying the foundation for successful junior and senior years. If you haven’t already, start getting involved with your community. Consider joining a debate team. Pick up a summer job. (If you can continue working though the school year then great, but look for something seasonal that can give you some great work/life experience.) Likewise, you can also apply to summer programs, internships and join summer camps for similar experience. And most importantly, start studying and practicing for the SAT’s and ACT’s. Students who find they are poor test-takers or even overachievers will find calm in getting a look at these standardized tests well in advance. Students begin taking these types of tests in their junior years, so preparing for them over the summer helps alleviate stress and will make their junior year go by much smoother.

Junior Year

Students, I hope you’re feeling a fire under your feet because things are really starting to heat up now. Junior year is one of, if not the most academically critical for your high school career and ultimately your college admission. During this year you will need to buckle down and do the most. While freshman and sophomore years were more about finding your groove and getting acquainted with high school, junior year is where the real magic happens. Junior year is where students start lining up all the dominos they’ll be knocking down come the college admission essay season during senior year. This year, you will want to be striving for the best possible grades in the most challenging classes. The majority of your course load should be AP courses and honors.

Additionally, you want to be strategic about the types of classes you take for AP or honors. Students who have even a tiny sliver of an idea of what they might want to do in or after college should consider taking AP classes that align with their strengths and interests. Typically subjects split between Science/Math and Art/Humanities and students will find themselves on either side of that split depending on where their strengths and interests lie. Don’t sign up for AP Chemistry just because everyone is taking that class or because it seems cool. AP Chemistry is hard, and there’s no reason to enroll in a blatantly rigorous class if it won’t make sense in the long run. However, if you think you might want to study Humanities in college, it might not hurt to take an AP World History course, because this will help you build some foundational knowledge that could come in handy later.

Now that the experimenting phases of freshman and sophomore year are over its time to start ramping up your extracurriculars to the next level. You know that saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none”? Well the same idea goes for hobbies and extracurricular activities as well. Trying new things is great, but now is the time to stop being a beginner and start adding more challenging, advanced activities to your plate. If you really enjoyed Drama I and Drama II in your freshman and sophomore years, consider continuing with Advanced Drama, Musical or Debate. Widen your skills and experiences but continue moving vertically rather than laterally. Consider getting involved with leadership opportunities. Sign up for bigger projects and roles within your school clubs. Continue getting involved with the community and building up your community service experience. Start clubs that might be missing (and needed) at your school. Likewise, now is the time to show off your abilities. If there are any competitions or contents, junior year is the grade to do so. Sign up and participate in art competitions or a mathalon.

Next, during your junior year, you are going to want to form close bonds with key teachers, counsellors, and mentors. Consider what you’d like to do in and after college and see which teachers fit into that picture. If you’re wanting to get into the publishing industry after college, consider talking to your creative writing teacher about any opportunities they might know of that you haven’t yet taken advantage of. Mentors in high school can be invaluable and you should not take their time, attention and expertise for granted. Likewise, forming strong bonds with teachers and mentors who know you, like you and have a good sense of your character can be critical when it comes time to collect letters of recommendation.

While these letters alone won’t guarantee acceptance into any school, they are amazing for giving colleges a second opinion on you and shedding more light on your character outside of your own admission essay and application. It is true that these letters can be the determining factor that pushes a school to accept you as opposed to another student with similar academic merit. As for the letters themselves, consider asking teachers and mentors to write them during the spring of Junior year. This way, they have time to dedicate adequate attention and energy to writing a glorious recommendation letter over the summer, instead of stressing about getting that done on top of finals and a whole litany of end-of-the-year tasks.

Additionally, during the spring of your junior year, you will want to take the SAT or the ACT for the first time. By now, you’ve have many classes under your belt and this first experience of these intense standardized tests will prepare you for what is to come in your senior year. Which one you decide to take will be up to you. Most colleges accept both, but the SAT is more widely used. However, once again, consider your strengths and weaknesses. The SAT is more English/Writing and Math skills, whereas the ACT focuses more on Science. The key to these types of tests is always studying and practice. Taking these tests way ahead of time, such as in the early spring of junior year, rather than waiting until the spring of senior year, allows you to have a baseline. A baseline is the first scores you get from these tests and will help you determine where your strongest and weakest subjects lie. It will help you get a feel for what you need to study more of and where you can work to improve your score.

Lastly—and this is completely optional—but if your schedule and financial situation permits, consider visiting the campuses of the schools you think you might like to attend. Sign up for campus tours, schedule meetings with advisors and check out the clubs and activities available to students at your potential universities.

During you’re the summer between your junior and senior years, you are going to need to start actually preparing for the transition from high school to college. You will want to start putting together college lists, doing your research on prospective schools, practicing, and preparing your Common App college application and essay and preparing for one of the single most stressful years of your academic life. But again, don’t panic. With a little (okay, maybe a lot) of preparation and planning, you can certainly pull this off.

Senior Year

It’s no secret that everyone’s senior year is an absolute whirlwind of activity, stress and college prep. Not to mention, students often start feeling burnout, or senioritis as many like to call it. However, it doesn’t have to be that way at all. Senior year should be exciting, fun, memorable and you shouldn’t let stress rob you of those wonderful experiences that come with your final year of high school.  

Of course, you’ll have a lot going on this year, but make sure to keep your grades up. Being the last year of high school, you are likely facing your heaviest, most challenging workload and there’s no turning back and no time for slipups. Stay on your grades, get help early, keep everything on track. This is the most important task of your senior year. Your twelfth-year grades do matter. Schools will look at your final year grades and can base their decisions on whether or not you kept an upward trajectory or instead let your grades take a nosedive once senioritis started creeping in. Collect your letters of recommendation from your teachers and prepare everything you need for the applications.

The second most important task of your senior year is taking the SAT/ACT early and with enough times to get as close to your desired score as possible. If you took these tests in your junior year, then great! You already know what you’re in for and hopefully it will be easier this time around. If not, then absolutely take your tests on the first available test date in September. Don’t cut things any closer by waiting until November or December to get your baseline score. Study often and rigorously, take the tests early and at every opportunity you have, and strive for the best possible score. 

The third most important task of your senior year is putting together everything you need for your college applications and admission essay. As mentioned previously, don’t wait until senior year to start planning your admission essay. I suggested working on it late in your junior year and during the summer between junior and senior year, but if you have the time and the drive to start working on it a bit earlier, that is fine too. Just make sure you’re following the correct prompt from the Common App or your desired school(s)’ essay prompt(s). As mentioned, at the start of this blog post, I won’t be going into the college admission essay process, but you can read all about it here. What you need to know for now, and within the context of this blog post, is that at the start of your senior year, you should start brainstorming and planning your admission essay so come application time, you will already have a fabulous piece of writing ready to submit with your applications.

Piggybacking of that idea, consider what schools, programs, and scholarships you will want to apply for. Scholarships have a surprisingly limited application window and they will creep up on you in October, September and even August of your senior year without so much as a whisper. Get the jump on these scholarships so you can at least make every effort possible to take advantage of these opportunities as early as you can.

Man pulling money out of his wallet. Photo by Karolina Grabowska.

On a slightly different and arguable more awkward topic, your senior year is the time to finally sit down and have the “Finances” chat with your parents. Some students will be privileged enough to have parents and family members willing and able to pay their way through college. Others will be expected to work for college or take out federal student loans to cover their studies. Students who fall below a certain income threshold may be able to receive financial aid from their academic institution via the FAFSA. Have a realistic conversation with your parents and outline a plan of action for covering all potential college expenses. Narrowing down which schools fall within your family’s budget will help you determine which schools you might want to apply for. On the same note, discuss with your family how you will pay for application fees in December.

There is so much to do in your senior year, you want to try and get everything lined up during the summer. You want to know what schools you want to apply for early, so you can know when their application deadlines are, how much the applications cost, and devise a strategy with your parents. Many students face the stress of waiting until their senior year to do everything all at once. This results in missed deadlines, failing grades, sloppy workmanship, and ultimately burnout during one of the most memorable years of students’ lives. Plan ahead of time and put in the effort. Most of the work that goes into being as prepared as possible for college is doing research and planning ahead.

And that’s it for my 9th-12th grade college prep guide. What do you think about preparing for college throughout high school? Were you an early bird or a procrastinator? What would you do different about your college prep experience? Let me know in the comments below!

Further reading:

• College Admissions Essay Basics

• Self-Care Tips for Readers and Writers

Thumbnail photo by Jeshoots.

—Payton

Hi students, readers and writerly friends!

Student taking notes. Photo by Green Chameleon.

While it’s not exactly freelancing advice, I thought with the craziness of the pandemic and school right around the corner, many graduating high-school students could benefit from some help with writing their college admissions essays. This blog post is dedicated to giving you all of the basics for writing an amazing college admission essay that will help you demonstrate your skills in communication and offer up a unique perspective on a little slice of your life that just doesn’t show up in your academic records.

What Is An Admissions Essay?

A college admissions essay is well—yes, it’s an essay, but it’s so much more than that. It’s an opportunity to give the college a glimpse into your life and your character. It’s a chance for you to expand upon your abilities both as a student, colleague, and ultimately a contributing member of society. If college is your extended education—the toolbox that contains everything you need to be successful as a professional adult (of course without the guarantee that you’ll get a job right out of the gate, but I digress) then your admissions letter is the big, bright red sticker on your shirt that says “Hello my name is—PICK ME!”

Colleges want to see you succeed, but just as much as your time and money is an investment in you, their time and money is an investment in you, even if they’re making a profit. By accepting you, the college is making a bet and taking a risk that you’ll be worth it. And an admission essay is the opportunity to show them all the benefits of their investment—all of the wonderful parts of your character that will come together to make you an ideal student.

What Makes A Good Admissions Essay?

I always say a good admissions essay is like a good memoir—it has just the right amount of self-pride, self-awareness, and a captivating narrative to tie it all together. Bold as it was, my admission essay was about writing. (I know, how meta.) Like I said, it was a bold move, because I knew the colleges I applied for (and got accepted to) were going to be keenly aware of my writing and communication abilities while comparing it to the subject matter of the essay itself. It was a risky move, but I came up with a formula that really worked for me and I’m going to share it with you.

Open Versus Closed Prompts

Given that the essay is a free-write or open prompt, you can really write about anything. Many schools offer this as an option now, in case you’d prefer not to write using one of their offered prompts. However, even if the college you’re applying to has a specific prompt, such as “Write about a time when you were challenged to do the right thing, even if it wasn’t the popular thing” you can still take it in a multitude of different directions.  Do your research and determine whether or not your school(s) require you to write using a specific prompt.

Word Count and Formatting Requirements.

Similar to the prompt idea, you want to know what the word minimum and maximum for your school(s) admissions essay so you can get a better understanding of how much writing you will need to do and have a goal in mind to shoot for while you’re outlining your essay. Typically, an average college admissions essay will require no less than 650 words, but schools can vary, so it is always important to double-check the requirements for your school’s essay. Don’t worry about the word count during the drafting phase, though. Just write your heart out until you’re finished and then edit after.

Additionally, you want to make sure your essay is formatted properly according to your school(s)’ requirements. Most schools require their essays to follow MLA format, unless they have their own instructions or allow you to paste your essay into a text box on the application. Just make sure you understand what your school is asking of you before you go to submit your paper.

I linked a helpful webpage from Purdue University on how to properly format an APA/MLA style essay at the end of this post.

Write With Intention. Every Word Counts.

Of course, regardless of the word count minimum or maximum, you want to use your time and space to write wisely. You want to be intentional about every word, every sentence, and every thought present in your paper. The idea is to avoid coming across as an incoherent, rambling mess, because you didn’t take the time to ensure your writing was elegant, succinct, and carefully thought out.

Brainstorming Your Prompt.

Touching again on the prompt section, if you’re writing with an open prompt, you will need to do some brainstorming to figure out what you want to write about in your essay. We will talk more about this later, but essentially, you’re going to need to come up with some broad ideas of what you want to include in your essay. This will help you narrow down ideas for your narrative later on.  The biggest piece of advice to remember about your essay is that you want it to reflect positively on you and your character.

Don’t Misinterpret The Prompt or Portray Yourself Negatively.

Some prompts are trick questions, plain and simple. As mentioned above, you want to come across in the best way possible, so the idea is not to highlight your failures and mistakes. Even when some prompts ask you to do just that. One example of a trick prompt is the “Failure” prompt. This prompt might present itself like this:

“The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?”

This prompt is not asking you to write about failure—well, they are, but they’re asking you to explain how you interpret your failure and turn it into success.  This is a fantastic prompt for showcasing your character and demonstrating how you’ve overcome obstacles. Think back to a positive outcome you’ve had as a result of making good choices in a tough situation.

Entertain Your Admissions Officer.

This is easier said than done, I get that. Of course, you want to avoid cliché topics such as why you want to be a doctor because you want to make the world a better place, but they’ve probably heard this story a million times. Consider how you can personalize your story and make it unique and interesting to you. 

Prepare Well Ahead of Time.

Don’t wait until the last minute to write, edit, re-write, peer-review, and mail/email your admissions essay. This will haunt you. Start working on your essay way in advance so you have plenty of time to make it the best version it can be prior to turning in. Highschool students:  it’s not a bad idea to get a head start on your essay a grade or two in advance. Likewise, prepare your applications in advance. Students always have so much going on during their senior year that its hard to find time to prepare their essays with time to spare. And admissions officers can tell when you’ve waited until a month before applications and essays are due. Typically the work seems rushed, incoherent, incohesive, and generally is poorly thrown together due to ridiculous, procrastination-born, self-imposed time constraints. Starting the process early will save you a lot of headache and take off the pressure. Don’t let these important academic tasks get away from you.

People discussing ideas in a workspace. Photo by Headway.

Get Feedback.

Share your essay with a wide variety of people—from those who know you well, to fellow students and colleagues, to teachers, to strangers. People who really know you well will be the best to get feedback from that reflects your character. Close friends and family will be able to tell you whether or not your essay accurately and positively reflects you as a person. However, they will likely tell you your writing is great and that is not constructive. For constructive criticism on the quality of the writing and the ability to keep the reader entertained, consider asking a stranger to review your essay for you and give you their honest opinions. For formatting, aesthetic, and technical help, as your teachers, advisors, and school counselors for help. If you really want to ensure you’ve got a great essay on your hands, consider hiring an editor to help you polish your writing. Remember to get many opinion on your essay and never take any one person’s opinion as the end-all-be-all. Additionally, most schools offer essay workshops to help you prepare for the daunting college admission essay. (Be wary sharing your essay with your peers who might be applying to the same school(s) as you. Competition in college admissions is a very real concern.)

Writing The Essay

Step 1. Establish your narrative.

First of all, why do you want to go to college? What will you be studying? What kind of experiences do you hope to get out of your time in college? Consider these questions because they will be useful in figuring our what kind of narrative you will want to use as a vehicle to drive your essay forward in a consistent, cohesive manner. However, your essay doesn’t need a thesis. Many English teachers will try to get you to follow MLA essay format, when that might not always make sense for your essay and your voice. What your essay does need, is structure.

For example, if I wanted to be a professional basketball player, I might want to think back to a time in my life when I first discovered my love of basketball. I might consider using a story of getting picked to play on the basket ball in kindergarten or when my dad lifted me up on to his shoulders to I could make the slam dunk as a 6 year old and how it changed my life. Really dig deep here. Find a story represents your hopes and dreams while also embodying what you’re hoping to get out of college. This might seem like a big ask, and that’s because it is. Maybe you don’t quite have a story that checks all the boxes. That’s okay. You can manufacture some details here and there. Just find a story that feels true to you and go with it.

Next, figure out how you’re going to string the essay together. Like I mentioned before, the key to  a great essay is the right amount of self-awareness, self-pride, and the narrative. The narrative acts as the glue for your story. It would be really hard to make a cohesive, entertaining, and compelling essay about yourself without something to connect all of the subject matter together.

Step 2. Identify your self-pride.

Of course you don’t want to come off full-of yourself or disconnected from reality, so only include what is necessary here, and do it in the most objective way possible. If you’ve ever written a resume, then you might know that its useful to include a list of skills or tasks you are proficient at, so long as they are relevant to the job you’re applying for. The same goes for a college admissions essay. You wouldn’t talk about your trendy fashion sense if doesn’t somehow fit into your dream of being a pro basketball player, unless the two worlds overlapped in a way that made sense and fits within the scope of the essay—such as, if your love of basketball heavily influenced your fashion sense so much that you like to wear basketball shorts and heels to school. (Okay, maybe the example is getting away from me, but you get what I’m saying) It doesn’t exactly have to fit neatly within the narrative, but your self-pride has to make sense.

Step 3. Identify your self-awareness.

Similar to the self-pride element mentioned above—you should highlight your strengths. However, for this step, you want to be aware of your weaknesses. Consider any times that your weaknesses, both physically, mentally, or emotionally may have made things difficult for you in a way that fits into the narrative. Is there a time when your weaknesses challenged you to grow or revert back to your comfort zone? How did you react? How did you feel in that moment? How did it change you and teach you after you came out on the other side? How would you do things differently?

The thing about college admissions essays is that the college isn’t looking for someone who is perfect. Many essays come across as disconnected, narcissistic, and unrealistic because students write themselves into a perfect person when perfection just doesn’t exist. Colleges are looking for someone who is open-minded, willing to learn, has a thirst for knowledge, and will chase their dreams. So demonstrate these positive character traits and show how you’ve grown from your mistakes. The object here is not to highlight your mistakes but rather how they’ve shaped you into the amazing person you are today—the one deserving of an acceptance letter from your preferred college or university.

Women working on a laptop. Photo by Surface.

You don’t need a professional to help with your essay.

I would say most students don’t need to seek out the aid of a professional essay consultant to achieve the essay of their dreams. If you follow these tips and put in the work, there’s no reason your essay can’t come out amazing. The only students I would advise to seek professional help are the ones who a) can afford to pay a professional and b) are just really struggling with the essay process.

Helpful Links

I didn’t want to spend too much time on these, but I’ve included a list of helpful links. These can be great communities for bouncing ideas off of, getting feedback, and understanding the admission process a bit more. However, I encourage you to take the information you find on these websites with a grain of salt.

• Common App Website

• Common App 1st Year Essay Prompts (2020-2021)

• College Confidential Website

• Applying To College Reddit Discussion

• “How to Apply to College” The Best Schools’ Article

• Khan Academy’s College Application Checklist

• Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (Guide for MLA/APA Style Essay Formatting)

Of course, these are all just my personal tips and tricks from my own admission essay experience, from my friends and family, and from seeing students online who have both aced and tanked their admissions essays. I hope you found this blog post helpful! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below.  

Thumbnail photo by Keira Burton.

—Payton

Hi readers, students, and writerly friends!

Payton here, back again with another installment of my college series. This week in Freelancing we’re covering a topic that overlaps between the bookish world and the college world—everything that young adult fiction gets wrong about college. This is going to cover every one of my biggest YA/college pet peeves from privilege, to unrealistic expectations, to overdone tropes and more so stay tuned!

Messy, unrealistic timelines

Okay, this might be the single most important issue I have with YA fiction that involves the college experience, so that’s why I made sure to cover it first. Students listen up! One thing YA gets very, VERY wrong is the college application/admission timeline and what happens when. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about a student getting accepted into Harvard in like February. It just doesn’t happen and it makes no sense. Writers who have characters in their novels that are in their senior year should do as much research as possible about the school(s) their fictional students are applying to so they can get a very clear and accurate picture of what that process looks like. Regardless of if all the details actually make it into the story, writers should make a timeline to keep everything organized and make sure their fictional events surrounding college take place within an accurate time frame. This is critical for fiction to stop perpetuating inaccurate stereotypes and setting unrealistic expectations for students.

Typically, early decision and early action happen in October and November and of course, those deadlines vary from school to school, which is why research is key. Not to mention, early decision and early action are two different things. Early decision is binding and basically means the student applying agrees to attend that school, should they get in and that’s why students are only allowed to apply early decision to one school. Early decision is also pretty much limited to very wealthy, upper class families, as it is a big gamble for applying students and be messy to navigate exiting these agreements when the school’s perception of your financial situation does not line up with your reality. Early action on the other had, is a far more accessible option because it is not legally binding. This is a great avenue for students who are interested in applying and receiving their application results early who might also want to apply to a few other colleges as regular decision.

 Students who apply early decision/early action will receive admissions decisions typically in December, but some will hear back in January at the latest. Students who are passed up for the early decision/early action pools, may be deferred or moved to the regular decision pools which means their applications will be looked at along with all of the other non-early applying students. Regular decision students who apply to private universities will hear application results between December and Mid-January, though again, writers should double check these guidelines against the school about which they are writing.

Likewise, students who want/need merit-aid, many schools that offer this will send rejection/acceptance letters in November-Early December, but once again, writers should fact check deadlines for the school they are writing about to avoid perpetuating these harmful stereotypes in their writing.

Piggybank with coins. Photo by Skitterphoto.

Unrealistic expectations for scholarships, financial aid, and acceptance rates

Building on my first issue with college depictions in YA fiction, most young adult writers include inaccurate/unrealistic financial situations in their stories. Here’s an example: the poor, lower-class, yet brilliant student applies on a whim to Harvard and gets a full-ride. For one, Harvard hardly ever gives out full-ride scholarships. For two, if they did somehow get a generous scholarship, the remaining funds the student and their family are expected to pay are typically way out of the question for most lower/middle class families. And this goes for any ivy league or competitive private institution out there. For three, due to the competitive, elite nature of these types of schools, it is highly unlikely students can just apply and get in, no matter how brilliant they may be. And this unrealistic expectation is harmful because it pops up ALL. THE. TIME. And thus gives students the idea that they have a shot in hell at getting into one of these schools. It’s just a big set up for failure, crushed dreams, and a waste in application fees.

Additionally, most YA writers (due to the age bracket most YA writers fall into) don’t have a very good grasp on how much college really costs nowadays. I would argue that most YA writers are in their 30’s or older (with exceptions of course) and it’s been a little while since they last attended college for themselves. It’s amazing how much things can change in ten years.

In a 2019 CNBC article, Abigail Hess explains how the cost of college has increased by more than 25% in the last 10 years:

During the 1978 - 1979 school year, it cost the modern equivalent of $17,680 per year to attend a private college and $8,250 per year to attend a public college. By the 2008 - 2009 school year those costs had grown to $38,720 at private colleges and $16,460 at public colleges.

Today, those costs are closer to $48,510 and $21,370, respectively. That means costs increased by roughly 25.3% at private colleges and about 29.8% at public colleges. -Abigail Hess

Read more from Abigail’s article “The cost of college increased by more than 25% in the last 10 years—here’s why” here.

That’s an insane jump and truthfully, most writers don’t take these facts into account when writing YA fiction that involves the college experience. There’s a bigger issue here and it’s that YA fiction rarely takes into account the intersection of financial aid and class privilege and that’s because most YA writers are upper-middle class and never had to struggle to pay for college as a lower or middle class student. Class privilege is a huge reason why the college experience is not accurately portrayed in YA fiction and honestly, financial aid/scholarships are irresponsibly depicted as well.

What would be really great, is to see more portrayals of students applying and getting into state universities and community colleges. As a graduate from a local community college myself, it feels severely understated in YA fiction, especially since this is close to the reality most college students face. The acceptance rates at state universities and community colleges are much higher (mine had a 100% acceptance rate and a 90% completion rate) due to the dramatic difference in tuition, boarding an other costs per student, as opposed to the kinds of private schools we see more often portrayed in young adult fiction. Even though many state universities are still quite competitive, it would be really refreshing and great to see more YA fiction depict students attending state universities and community colleges, especially when the acceptance rate is far more realistic than the ludicrous 1% some of the ivy league schools are infamous for.

Student feeling stressed. Photo by Energepic.com.

Touching on the unrealistic timelines point, I’d like to include that many YA novels include depictions of students who apply to and get into a school and then start applying for scholarships. Unfortunately, by the time students should be hearing back from their desire schools, applying for scholarships is simply too late. Again, it’s important that writers do their research on their schools and make sure the realistically portray them in their writing. And on a similar note, many universities do not offer financial aid to out of state students so writers should keep this in mind when writing about college students crossing state lines for schooling.

Another financial discrepancy often found in YA fiction is the image of students going to any of the top 50 schools in the US and magically getting awarded merit-based scholarships. These schools are based on academic ability and therefore merit-based scholarships simply do not exist for students attending these schools. Instead, need-based scholarships are a possibility instead because the financial aid awards are divided out to applicants on a as-needed basis. Again, research is required here, because for the need-based awards, the school is the authority that determines the applicants’ need and every school has their own formula for determining what constitutes need. Likewise there is need-aware and need-blind schools where the former takes financial background into account while the later does not.

Student signing up for student loan debt to make college possible. Photo by Andrea Picquadio.

Loans and parent dependency

Since students aren’t technically considered (academically) adults until age 24, students are dependent on their parents and their finances will certainly play a roll in what kinds of awards, scholarships, waivers, and loans students can make use of during their college career. Due to this, unfortunately many students from middle-class families are unable to attend school simply because 1) the student’s parents make too much money for them to qualify for financial aid and 2) without the financial aid, the student’s parents simply do not make enough to pay for college while supporting the household. Likewise, this is an issue for students who have divorced, separated, or estranged parents, or parents who are unwilling to pay for college.  

Unfortunately, because students are considered dependents of their parents until 24 years old, obtaining substantial loans may prove difficult or impossible due to the students need for a cosigner. Students are able to independently sign for a federal loan that is roughly $4500 max as a freshman and roughly $7500 max as a senior, which isn’t nearly enough to cover even one year for almost any college in the United States. Another federal loan option is the parent plus loan which has a much higher cap, but is contingent upon the parent’s credit and their willingness to take out such a loan.

The trend with all of these issues is that it all comes down to a lack of research, unrealistic expectations, and a failure on the writer’s part do their due diligence in preparing the background information needed to accurately depict the college experience. Writers who are covering the college experience in even the slightest degree, should do as much research as possible to prepare their writing. Writers can reach out to academic professionals to get more information as well. YA writers covering college in their novels should do their research so they can figure out which schools, under which conditions are actually attainable for their fictional characters.

And that’s it for my post on everything that YA gets wrong about college. What did you think of this post? Do you think YA could benefit from more research beforehand? Is there anything I left out? Let me know in the comments below!

Thumbnail photo by Pixabay.

—Payton

I went to Art School.

In Oklahoma.

And it was nothing like going to RISD, Parsons, or The Art Institute of Chicago, or any of the other top art schools in America.

I finished high school with a very picturesque idea in mind of what art school would be like when I finally headed off to college. I had watched videos from YouTubers like Tiffany Weng, CatCreature, May Gao, and Cup of Jasmien which not only excited me about art school, but it intimidated me as well. I wondered if I had what it took to make it in to any one of the top art schools in the country. I never really found out. I went to art school in Oklahoma. Specifically, I studied Fine Studio Art from Midwest City’s own, Rose State College, and it was nothing like I’d imagined.

I had imagined bustling hallways lined with student art, a student art gallery, rigorous classes, brutal critiques, and an almost palpable competitiveness that just wasn’t there. The art classes at Rose State College weren’t particularly hard, but the school, teachers, and students have a commitment to excellence that you would find just as well, at the larger art schools in the country. Just because I attended an art program at a smaller, community college doesn’t mean I haven’t gained a greater understanding of the arts, a substantial appreciation for the artistic process, and wider knowledge of mediums, principles, elements, and techniques. Community college is just as great as the prestigious art schools, and here’s why:

First Still Life of Painting I with Suzanne Thomas (SP 2020) in the Painting Room of the Communications Center at Rose State College

The Classes

Student Art Gallery Hall at OCU

Rose State College prides itself on having the golden 20-to-1 ratio, meaning unlike the larger schools in the state, there are fewer students to each teacher. This allows for more meaningful connections, wider possibility for discussion, and provides a space where students can really work one-on-one with their professors to achieve the education they are seeking. However, what the school is lacking is the vastness of a larger school, and perhaps this is a good thing. Rose State College has visibly been making strides to grow the campus and the student body from the new and improved Learning Resources Center and student housing built in 2016 and the new student center which began construction in 2018 and is set to be completed in late 2020.

Empty Student Art Gallery Hall at OCU

Unlike the well-known art schools in the country, Rose State College is not strictly an art school, and in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Rose State College, is similar to OSU, OCU, and OU in that they are schools that offer a wide variety of majors. RISD and the Art Institute of Chicago focus primarily on majors within the field of art from digital art, to fine studio art, to textiles and more. The closest art design degree that Rose State College offers is in Fine Studio Arts which includes several survey art courses, several painting and drawing classes, a ceramics class and more. Alternatively, students can study animation and digital art under the Multimedia Digital Design degree. While these are exciting and essential classes for any art major, they are somewhat baseline when compared to schools like RISD. With that being said, Rose State is a 2-year school and not yet a 4-year school, so aspiring art majors, keep that in mind.

The Atmosphere

Painting I with Suzanne Thomas (SP 2020) Student paintings leaned against the wall in the painting room in the Communications Center at Rose State College. Photo by Payton Hayes.

As mentioned, the school is relatively small, compared to the other, much larger schools in the state and the other art schools in the country. However, the atmosphere was much more laid back and provided a space for connection and open discussion. The classrooms were not particularly outstanding, but they served their purpose well. The painting room, for example could seat up to 20 at most, but since there typically aren’t many art majors attending RSC the classrooms never felt cramped. In several art classes, the work is primarily student-driven and advised by the professors. Professors would often outline a general idea and basic requirements for each assignment, but the students had a lot of freedom to execute their visions. Music was often put on in the background and the laid-back vibe of the classroom encouraged students to converse and walk around the room to observe the techniques of other artists in real-time. Some classes had semi-formal critiques, where students would hang their work on a wall, and one-by-one observe and critique each other on the strengths and weaknesses of the work.

Key Differences

Of course, there are always trade-offs when comparing the bigger art schools to the smaller, non-art schools—the latter offers smaller, more connected classes, provides a space for greater, more meaningful discussion, and allows students to form more tight-knit bonds with each other, while the former offers greater diversity and challenges students to rise to higher standards. Which school is best for you will depend on what you want to get out of your art degree.

Second Still Life of Painting I with Suzanne Thomas (SP 2020) in the Painting Room of the Communications Center at Rose State College. Photo by Payton Hayes.

What did an art degree at RSC do for me?

Studying art at Rose State College taught me all the basics—everything I needed to know about different art mediums and techniques, all the different elements and principles of art, and of course, how to identify artist, style, and time period when looking at a piece. However, I also learned some valuable skills in addition to the basics. I learned skills in time management, craftsmanship, and presentation. I also learned how to be expressive and let go of expectations in art—this mindset shift has greatly improved my own craft as well as increased the joy and love I have for observing and creating art. It’s very much like Bob Ross says—happy accidents.

Paint used on the Humanities mural in the upstairs back hallway of the RSC Humanities building. Photo by Payton Hayes.

By attending Rose State, I was also able to participate in a few unique and incredible opportunities, such as getting to paint two different murals in their Humanities building, helping organize and put on a student-led art exhibition, and getting a closer look into how public art is created in the greater OKC area. I have made valuable connections with other art opportunities and mentors across the state, such as Pablo Barrera from Oklahoma Contemporary, Randy Marks from the OKC Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs. I feel confident that I could hold a candle to the students graduating from the top art schools in the country because of what I’ve learned and where studying art in Oklahoma has taken me. 

I think, if you are dead set on attending RISD or Parsons, you should totally do that. But they aren’t the only schools to study art from in the country. Likewise, they are incredibly competitive and often hard to get into in the first place. If your heart is not set on attending one of these elite schools, consider attending a community college or art program in the Midwest because there is so much, they can offer that the bigger schools just cannot. Additionally, by attending the smaller art schools/programs, you’re supporting a growing art community—be it in Oklahoma or elsewhere.  

Student artwork hung in the glass case in the Rose State College Communication Center, Spring 2020. Photo by Payton Hayes.

Thanks for reading my reflection on attending a smaller (non-)art school in Midwest City, OK, as opposed to going to RISD or one of the bigger, better-known art schools in the country. I just wanted to shed some light on what it was like for me. Of course, I am sure my fellow students may have had slightly (or even vastly) different experiences at Rose State, but these were just my observations. If you liked this article or found it helpful in some way, please consider “liking” it or leaving a comment below!

Thumbnail photo created with Picsart by Payton Hayes.

—Payton