"There can be a lot of uncertainty about how to get into college as well as how to manage our lives now.... Hopefully, this article is able to help you with some of these things. " -- Daisha Williams 11th Grade
Every year of high school can be a challenge. Everyday it can feel like you're fighting for your life in a sea of hallways, like that 76% on that quiz might just kill you, like this is the worst day. However, when asked what the hardest year of high school is, most people would say junior year. As a junior more is expected of you academically, many of us are taking harder classes, some of us will take the PSAT and/or SAT this year, and we also have to transition into preparing for college. Colleges care the most about your junior year grades, something that all of us have undoubtedly been told, and this puts a level of pressure on our academic performances that many of us have never felt before. Us juniors in 2021 have to deal with all this as well as adjusting to being back on campus after 18 months of being shut in our homes. On top of all that, at OSA we all need to attempt to be passionate about - or at the very least - pass our arts classes. And of course, school can’t realistically be our entire lives. We have personal things with friends and family, and when I lay it all out like this it can seem like a lot and COVID-19 adds an additional layer of stress to this. There can be a lot of uncertainty about how to get into college as well as how to manage our lives now, because we’re only 16 or 17 years old after all. Hopefully, this article is able to help you with some of these things.
Covid caused a year and a half of online learning, and that changed things a lot. One of the things that it changed was the college acceptance process. The biggest change was that many colleges made SAT and ACT test scores optional to apply. Because of this many colleges receive a surge in applications. Harvard applications increased by 43% in comparison to the year before. Many colleges have said that they will continue to have these test scores be optional for this year’s students, but what does that mean for those of us who aren’t applying to college until next year and aren’t going until the year after? Well not much. Right now it seems that we will be taking the SAT. If colleges will require those scores by the time we apply is the thing we don’t know. The best thing that we can do is be prepared.
Before we talk about preparation we should talk about something a bit more important. I think we all know that our mental health is extremely important. Being too stressed can make everything a lot harder, so it’s good to find some ways to relieve stress. The first of these are relatively simple. Get enough sleep! Drink enough water! Eat enough food! These things are very important to our mental, physical, and emotional health. Try to bring a water bottle with you to school so you can remain hydrated throughout the day. Try to bring food with you, even if it’s just a small snack, even if you plan on buying lunch. Even if you don’t eat it, it’s good to have it just in case you need it. If you're someone who struggles with these things I would recommend getting a buddy, someone you’re already friends with, so that you can remind each other to drink water, or to go to bed if it’s getting late.
There are a few other things that I have found helps me be less stressed. The first is doing work in periods. I try not to do work for more than 50 minutes at a time without taking a break. My breaks aren’t long, sometimes just walking upstairs or sitting on TikTok for 5 minutes. Of course you can work for longer or shorter if that doesn’t work for you, but that doesn’t mean that you should not take breaks. We aren’t robots, we’re teenagers. Something else I find helpful is having lists and planners. It helps everything from overflowing in my head. If none of those work for you here is a list of the Top Ten Stress Relievers for Students according to Elizabeth Scott, MS.
Finally, let's talk about how you should get prepared. Working hard without a clear goal other than to do good can often feel pointless. I would recommend coming up with a list of colleges you want to apply to. It can be as little as one or two or as many as you want. After you come up with this list, look up your colleges’ admission requirements. My favorite website to use for this is PrepScholar. Their website lays everything out, where your GPA should be, what scores they want on each test, and lots of other things. Look at the numbers and think about if this is a realistic goal for you. If it is, then aim for that. Try not to let your GPA fall lower than the one they give you. If this goal does not seem realistic for you then look farther down the page. There should be a list of schools that you might be interested in that are a little easier to get into. See if any of those are something you would like to work towards.
After this, look at the SAT score you need to get for your school. The SAT is scored on a 1600 score. There are two main categories of the SAT, reading/writing and math. Each of these categories are worth 800 points. As of Jan 19, 2021, there is no essay section on the SAT. Buy an SAT prep book or check one out from your local library. Look through it and see how much of it you already know. If you don’t recognise much, then try to start studying it as soon as you can. Sophomores and juniors at OSA have the option to take the PSAT on Tuesday, October 26th. Juniors can take the SAT this spring so even if the subject material of the books seems familiar to you I wouldn’t procrastinate on studying for too long. 2-3 months is the recommended amount of time to spend studying for the SAT. There are many free SAT prep courses online, such as Khan Academy’s SAT Prep course. There are also many tutoring services available like Sylvan Learning of Piedmont and Wright Minded Private Tutoring which are both rated 5 stars on Google.
Scholarships are something most people in America want before going to college, because, well it’s that or a mountain of debt. There are LOTS of scholarships out there. Ms. Snyder recently sent out a google spreadsheet filled with scholarships you can look at. After that I recommend looking up scholarships for people who practise the art that you study at OSA. (Eg: “Visual Art Scholarships”) OSA kids spend more time focusing on our arts than most kids our age are able to. Because of that we are the prime applicants for these scholarships.
It would be a complete lie if I wrote that I’m not stressed about college. But having these resources have helped me immensely. Because of them I am sure that I am doing everything I can so that I can go to the college that I want to. Also, getting to bed earlier (or trying) at least on school night has definitely helped me feel a lot better at school this year. I know we can all get through this year, and I’m positive that I will do the very best I can. And if I don’t get into my dream college, that’s okay. I hope that sometime all of you will be able to say the same thing.
Covid caused a year and a half of online learning, and that changed things a lot. One of the things that it changed was the college acceptance process. The biggest change was that many colleges made SAT and ACT test scores optional to apply. Because of this many colleges receive a surge in applications. Harvard applications increased by 43% in comparison to the year before. Many colleges have said that they will continue to have these test scores be optional for this year’s students, but what does that mean for those of us who aren’t applying to college until next year and aren’t going until the year after? Well not much. Right now it seems that we will be taking the SAT. If colleges will require those scores by the time we apply is the thing we don’t know. The best thing that we can do is be prepared.
Before we talk about preparation we should talk about something a bit more important. I think we all know that our mental health is extremely important. Being too stressed can make everything a lot harder, so it’s good to find some ways to relieve stress. The first of these are relatively simple. Get enough sleep! Drink enough water! Eat enough food! These things are very important to our mental, physical, and emotional health. Try to bring a water bottle with you to school so you can remain hydrated throughout the day. Try to bring food with you, even if it’s just a small snack, even if you plan on buying lunch. Even if you don’t eat it, it’s good to have it just in case you need it. If you're someone who struggles with these things I would recommend getting a buddy, someone you’re already friends with, so that you can remind each other to drink water, or to go to bed if it’s getting late.
There are a few other things that I have found helps me be less stressed. The first is doing work in periods. I try not to do work for more than 50 minutes at a time without taking a break. My breaks aren’t long, sometimes just walking upstairs or sitting on TikTok for 5 minutes. Of course you can work for longer or shorter if that doesn’t work for you, but that doesn’t mean that you should not take breaks. We aren’t robots, we’re teenagers. Something else I find helpful is having lists and planners. It helps everything from overflowing in my head. If none of those work for you here is a list of the Top Ten Stress Relievers for Students according to Elizabeth Scott, MS.
Finally, let's talk about how you should get prepared. Working hard without a clear goal other than to do good can often feel pointless. I would recommend coming up with a list of colleges you want to apply to. It can be as little as one or two or as many as you want. After you come up with this list, look up your colleges’ admission requirements. My favorite website to use for this is PrepScholar. Their website lays everything out, where your GPA should be, what scores they want on each test, and lots of other things. Look at the numbers and think about if this is a realistic goal for you. If it is, then aim for that. Try not to let your GPA fall lower than the one they give you. If this goal does not seem realistic for you then look farther down the page. There should be a list of schools that you might be interested in that are a little easier to get into. See if any of those are something you would like to work towards.
After this, look at the SAT score you need to get for your school. The SAT is scored on a 1600 score. There are two main categories of the SAT, reading/writing and math. Each of these categories are worth 800 points. As of Jan 19, 2021, there is no essay section on the SAT. Buy an SAT prep book or check one out from your local library. Look through it and see how much of it you already know. If you don’t recognise much, then try to start studying it as soon as you can. Sophomores and juniors at OSA have the option to take the PSAT on Tuesday, October 26th. Juniors can take the SAT this spring so even if the subject material of the books seems familiar to you I wouldn’t procrastinate on studying for too long. 2-3 months is the recommended amount of time to spend studying for the SAT. There are many free SAT prep courses online, such as Khan Academy’s SAT Prep course. There are also many tutoring services available like Sylvan Learning of Piedmont and Wright Minded Private Tutoring which are both rated 5 stars on Google.
Scholarships are something most people in America want before going to college, because, well it’s that or a mountain of debt. There are LOTS of scholarships out there. Ms. Snyder recently sent out a google spreadsheet filled with scholarships you can look at. After that I recommend looking up scholarships for people who practise the art that you study at OSA. (Eg: “Visual Art Scholarships”) OSA kids spend more time focusing on our arts than most kids our age are able to. Because of that we are the prime applicants for these scholarships.
It would be a complete lie if I wrote that I’m not stressed about college. But having these resources have helped me immensely. Because of them I am sure that I am doing everything I can so that I can go to the college that I want to. Also, getting to bed earlier (or trying) at least on school night has definitely helped me feel a lot better at school this year. I know we can all get through this year, and I’m positive that I will do the very best I can. And if I don’t get into my dream college, that’s okay. I hope that sometime all of you will be able to say the same thing.
