How to Finish College Applications On Time, Sanity Intact

Late August evokes myriad emotions.  Some spend every last moment frolicking in the sun and sand.  Savina, a new student at SUNY-Old Westbury, where II’ll be teaching for the first time this fall, relishes shopping for school supplies.  But once September arrives, she dreads using them.  Indeed, anxiety fills the hearts of many students (and teachers!) this time of year.  Instead of frolicking, they fret over whether they’ll be able to handle the academic challenges ahead.  As a college application tutor, I see this no more so than in the high school seniors I work with every fall.  In this post, I’ll provide you, the adults in their lives, with some advice that might help your teen cope with the anxiety that the college application process provokes.

Image by @victor_g on Unsplash

College Application Tutor Tip #1: Breathe

As I mentioned above, I’m teaching a new course at a new campus this fall.  I’m also teaching another new course online for a different SUNY campus starting this September.  The prospect of two new course preps during the busiest season of my college application tutoring practice almost had me hyperventilating last week!  As a certified yoga teacher, I had to remind myself that the first step to conquering anxiety is to nip that fight-or-flight reaction in the bud by breathing. 

You can help your child begin to think clearly by recommending that they take a few calming breaths whenever they sense their anxiety ratcheting skywards.  You can also watch this video on taming anxiety for longer-term strategies.  They’ll benefit the whole family, whether you’re applying to college, prepping for the SAT, or starting a new job!

College Application Tutor Tip #2: Make a List or a Spreadsheet

Like any large-scale project, applying to college involves innumerable small tasks.  When we think of them as one, they seem insurmountable.  But when we break large tasks into smaller ones, suddenly they seem manageable.  While my main profession is college application tutoring, I also help students with time management and organization.  (Watch this interview for some additional hints.)  List making is the first step of every session to take charge of their time and schedule.

Spreadsheets are particularly helpful for evaluating different colleges on your child’s list.  Consider placing your child’s most important selection criteria at the top of each column.  You might even create a row where you quantify how that college rates for that criterion. Insert a simple “add function” to help you numerically rank your teen’s college choices.  If this sounds complicated because Excel or Sheets isn’t your thing, drop me a line.  I’m not just a college application tutor; I also help families build college lists.

College Application Tutor Tip #3: Schedule Time to Work on the Application

Sounds simple, but sometimes families engage in magical thinking.  They imagine that their student can complete the Common App’s many essays and forms in just a few hours in between soccer, homework, volunteer activities, and school.  Sadly, magical thinking only compounds kids’ anxiety.  As a college application tutor, I recommend that students set aside about five hours per week between now and November 1 to work on their applications.  Students applying to less selective or fewer colleges may need less time. Those applying to highly selective or more than a dozen schools may need more. 

Parents can help their high seniors by sitting down to schedule this work with them on a weekly basis.  Sunday nights are a great time for this shared activity.  You can hold them accountable by providing intermittent rewards for when they meet their scheduling goals.  (For more on the science of random, intermittent rewards for meeting goals, check out Andrew Huberman’s podcast.)

Conclusion: Perfect or Good?

A recovering perfectionist, it’s taken me half a lifetime to understand the wisdom behind Voltaire’s “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien” (“The perfect is the enemy of the good,” “La Bégueule,” 1772).  As a college application tutor, I’ve seen some parents and students make themselves sick in the process of attempting to craft the “perfect” college application.  Unfortunately, there is no such thing.  Instead, aim for the good.  If your child can set aside a few hours each week to whittle away at the tasks on their list, they and you will be able to breathe easily this autumn.

Portrait of Voltaire, accessed on Wikimedia Commons