Balanced College Planning

Teen Sports Radio...November show notes

November is a huge month in college admissions.

If you had a November 1 early application deadline, you’re likely very relieved to be past that big push. However, some seniors have a looming November 15 early application deadline.

With that in mind, if applying to colleges or scholarship programs that require a letter of recommendation, be certain you have followed your high school’s protocols when it comes to requesting teacher and counselor letters. Typically this requires asking at least two weeks in advance of the deadline, providing a copy of your brag sheet or resume, asking in person, and entering the teacher and counselor email into the Common Application or in Naviance if your school uses that tool to submit documents.

Another HUGE date for locals this month is the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) application deadline of November 30th.

With the UC application, you have to do a write up on 4 questions. These are called the “Personal Insight Questions” otherwise known as PIQs. Given that the SAT and ACT are no longer considered by the UCs, it is critical that applicants take the PIQs very seriously. Think of it as an opportunity to interview, providing as much context about your life experience as possible. Be sure to have someone critique and proofread your PIQs. And, be certain to read them aloud to yourself one final time before you hit that submit button, just to make sure everything is right.

Another thing to be careful with on the UC and CSU applications is how you fill out the A-G coursework you have completed. The best way to make certain you have done this correctly is to simply have your high school or college counselor proofread your application for accuracy.

Seniors in South Santa Barbara County may also want to be thinking about the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara honors and art application deadline of November 15. This is open to students who have attended high school in Carpinteria, Goleta or Santa Barbara. Financial need is not considered and the minimum GPA required for the honors scholarship is a 4.2 weighted.

9th, 10th and 11th graders, my advice to you this month is grades, grades, grades. Even if a recruited athlete, taking challenging courses and earning high marks is typically THE MOST important consideration in college admission.

If you are able to keep your grades and overall wellness up, the next piece of advice I have for you is to analyze your extracurricular involvement. Try to get involved in things that improve the lives of others, brings you joy, advances your knowledge, or helps you with career exploration. When you engage in activities that bring you joy, it is going to make it way easier for you to maintain long term involvement and gain increased responsibility. For colleges that consider extracurricular achievement, they tend to look for longevity and responsibility. It is much better to do one thing really well for all of high school, as opposed to having minimal involvement in a bunch of clubs for a short period of time. Think QUALITY over quantity.

The College Board has officially announced they will no longer offer the SAT Subject Tests for students in the United States, and have done away with the optional Essay portion of the SAT exam. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/01/20/college-board-kills-subject-tests-and-sat-essay

College Board kills Subject Tests and SAT Essay Reaction is mixed. Most experts say College Board had little choice.