Vertical traffic lights on all three colors backed by cloudy evening sky

3 Ways to Be Proactive in Your College Search

The college search and admission process can be overwhelming. As this college insider explains, being proactive can help you take control of your search.

As many of you begin your senior year, you’re bound to have numerous responsibilities and opportunities bidding for your attention. You’re sure to hear a lot about colleges, scholarships, essays, and more—but how do you sort through all the choices you’re about to have thrown at you and focus on what’s important? Be proactive.

As you take on the time-consuming task of figuring out what college or university will be the right fit for you, it’s important to get a jumpstart on whatever possible, whenever possible. Many of you may have already started your search process over this past summer or even earlier, while others of you are waiting for your school counselor to fire the starting pistol. Don’t wait for others to direct your process: seek out materials, do your research, and start figuring out what you want from a college on your own! Here are three things you shouldn’t wait for someone else to tell you to do.

1. Don’t wait for schools to come to you

If you know you have an interest in an institution, check out their website, sign up for their mailings, or call the admission counselor assigned to your territory. There are a ton of schools out there, but, fortunately or unfortunately, there are also a ton of students fighting for those institutions’ attention. If you wait for a college to visit your high school or to come to a local fair, you may not have the opportunity to get the one-on-one time you need to learn more about a particular school. Start your research early, and maintain your research often—you never know what important information could reveal itself as time passes that changes your perspective on a school.

Related: How to Build the Perfect College List in High School

2. Don’t wait for deadlines

As the fall begins, you’re going to have an onslaught of application deadlines, scholarship deadlines, and more. Not only should you be proactive in writing up a college application or a scholarship essay because you’re more likely to do your best work if you don't rush, but you should also be proactive to allow time for a teacher to proofread your work. A college essay riddled with grammatical errors or incorrect use of “their,” “they’re,” and “there” is not going to help your efforts. It’s also worth noting that some institutions give priority to students who submit their information ahead of time. The key to deadlines is setting your own personal deadline ahead of the official one so you never miss one.

3. Don’t wait for others to organize your materials

While many college application processes or scholarship requirements are similar, they each have important differences to which you need to pay attention. Don’t rely on your admission or school counselor to have to seek you out to obtain the missing credential necessary to complete your application. If you think you should have heard back with an admission decision, proactively call or email and ask if there are any pieces missing from your application. Sometimes, even if you enclosed all the necessary items, an institution may misplace a credential and the file sits as “incomplete” because, unbeknownst to you, there’s a letter of recommendation missing that you weren’t responsible for losing. By checking in for status updates here and there, you can ensure you’re being considered and that nothing has accidentally gone awry.

Related: 5 Ways Students Can Prepare for College Applications

Ultimately, being proactive in your college search process only benefits you, regardless of the task. Making a college visit well before the last date available, submitting your application for admission a week after it goes “live” on the institution’s website, and filing your FAFSA right on October 1—each of these proactive measures will help you. And if for whatever reason something is messed up, you'll have more time to fix the issue before any potential deadlines (or opportunities) are missed. The early bird gets the worm, and the proactive student gets the most out of their opportunities.

Find out what your colleges of interest want to see in your application with the advice in our College Admission section!

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About Jessee Sandlin

Jessee Sandlin is a Marketing and Communications Specialist as well as a former Associate Director of Admission at a Christian college in Kentucky. Considered by many friends, family members, and coworkers alike as an insatiable investigator, Jessee has devoted his professional career (and much of his personal life) to furthering the availability of higher education choices to students. When he's not poring over trends in enrollment management, meeting with students considering their college options, or traveling to various conferences and college fairs, he can be found spending time with his lovely wife, Holly.

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress

College Quick Connect

Swipe right to request information.
Swipe left if you're not interested.

Siena University

Loudonville, NY


Lydia Huth

Lydia Huth

Student, Campbell University; CollegeXpress Student Writer

I discovered CollegeXpress while embarking on my college search journey as an excited—but scared and way confused—high schooler without a counselor or college-bound sibling to give me advice. Let me tell you, I’m so glad that I stumbled on this community! CollegeXpress helped me find potential colleges and keep application deadlines straight. It gave me a great list of scholarships, and the blogs and emails made me feel like I wasn’t going it alone. Almost three years later and with freshman year of college down, I still love the CollegeXpress vibe so much that I’m writing for them. I’d recommend this site to anyone!

Dani York

Dani York

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress helped in my journey by comparing multiple colleges for my final decision. While looking at different colleges, I was able to compare the tuition expenses and that landed me with the college that I’m currently enrolled in, Western Kentucky University. Thank you!

Lu Diehl

Lu Diehl

High School Class of 2022

I never would have found the college I plan on attending without CollegeXpress! I've always been a person of ambition and have been dreaming of studying and working on my passion for law, legal studies, and political science. Washington College is where I plan on pursuing my career. My journey with my education has been difficult, and oftentimes, I was told I would never amount to much, but now I'm dual enrolled at Caroll Community College and have had experience in the fields I am dedicated to. Without the help of CollegeXpress (even in its early days), I would never have found Washington College and the information I need to apply and become a part of their community.

Jeannie Borin, MEd

Jeannie Borin, MEd

President and Founder, College Connections

I frequently visit CollegeXpress to answer questions from students and parents. There are countless hot topics in admissions that need to be addressed. I enjoy reading what my colleagues post and gain additional insight from different perspectives.

Leah Maciel

Leah Maciel

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress has helped me with all aspects of applying for college. The website is extremely easy to navigate and gives access to so many resources. I was able to research all of the colleges I was interested in, find out any information I wished to know about, and keep them organized in a list. I've also been able to research scholarships and save them as resources for later. I've used many websites in my college and scholarship search, and CollegeXpress has by far been my favorite one to use.