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The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

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Amanda's advice for applying to college

I remember this time last year.
I was cramming for the four finals I had coming up the following week, not realizing that if I got a B or C on any of them it WOULD NOT be the end of the world. I was also stressing about taking the SAT, ACT and SAT II, and on top of that was trying to begin to think about college.

Students, especially juniors, always seem to think nobody understands the stress that you are going through right now. Trust me…we all have, are, or will sometime in our lives, so stop trying to think that you are one in a million who feels the way you are feeling at this point in life.

My older sister felt it was her duty to tell me this when I was junior last year and of course I didn’t listen to her because I knew I was right and that she had no idea of how I felt. Now I feel it is my duty as a fellow Paly student to pass the word on to you. So here it goes, this is the best advice I can give to the younger crowd at Paly.

Over the next seven months you are going to be hearing plenty of people’s opinions about what you should do about college. Mom wants you to go to Northwestern, Dad wants you to go to Harvard, and your little sister wants you give up on the whole college thing because she’ll just be too sad here all alone next year!

But here’s the secret: Who cares what they want! First and by far the most important piece of advice – make your college list by yourself and then revise it with your family members and special people in your life. As a side note, do this soon. Don’t wait until September to start thinking about where you want to be for the next four years of your life. Do not let your parents decide where you want to go to college because in case you haven’t noticed lately…they are not the ones who are going to be living there!

Second, if you know what you want to study at college, don’t let anyone put you down about it. I am the perfect example of this phenomenon. Since I can remember, I have always wanted to be a teacher, and no I don’t mean a professor at a renowned university somewhere I want to be an elementary school teacher.
When I decided to apply to the School of Education at Boston University this fall, many people wondered what the hell I was doing. I can’t even tell you how many times people have said, "Ohhh, teaching. Well why that? Anybody can be a teacher. Don’t you want to do something more with your life and education than just teaching?"

Just teaching!? Hello!? If it wasn’t for the teachers of the world, who would have given you your education and allowed you to become a venture capitalist or a journalist or a doctor?
If you stay strong with what you want to do and don’t ever let anyone tell you that what you have decided is not the right path, chances are you will end up changing your major anyways.

Third, start your essays over the summer. I cannot stress enough to you how much of a difference this would have made in my life had I just listened to my sister’s recommendation. If you know that some of the colleges you are going to apply to are on the Common Application, by all means start writing your personal statement (or at least outline and brainstorm) over the summer. Most colleges will have their application on their Web site as early as this summer to let students start thinking about their essay topic, so take advantage of it!

Fourth, learn your vocabulary words before the weekend before SATs. The fact of the matter is that it is really hard to actually study for the SATs, but one thing that can majorly help is if you have a HUGE vocabulary. Every bookstore in the nation sells some sort of SAT vocab book that has flashcards and that sort of thing. If you know your vocab you are guaranteed a better verbal score on the SAT and SAT IIs.

I’m not going to lie, I was not happy with my SAT score the first or even the second time I took them. If I could go back and change one thing I would have studied the dictionary two hours every weekend for three months before the test.

Fifth, know and understand that wherever you end up for college you are never stuck there. Even if you apply under the Early Decision option (which I did), which is "binding," if you are accepted that "binding" does not mean for the next four years. I was fortunate enough to get into my first choice school under binding, early decision restrictions, but if I end up hating Boston I will have to stick out the first year, then I can transfer.
Just remember, you are never ever trapped.

My final piece of advice for the college process is…drum roll please…don’t stress out! I know this sounds corny and cliché, but I am serious when I say it. You will get into college. And it will be a good college even if it is not your first choice school. Don’t ever think that you won’t get in anywhere, because you and I both know that whoever thinks that is just goofy. I’m not promising that your first choice Ivy League school will accept you, but you will get in and no matter where you go, and if you make the most out of it, it will be the best time of your life.

Keep in mind that there are plenty of people driving Pinto’s around town with Stanford Alumni license plate borders, but there are just as many Beamer’s and Mercedes Benz’s driving around with San Jose State and Chico State license borders.

Just make the most of wherever you end up and you will get a good education.

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