Category: Summer Plan

Building Your College Application In 5 Steps

Posted on by Emma Sonnenblick

It’s national ice cream month, but before you go chill with some frozen treats, we have an analogy for you. College admissions requires a strategy, and fortunately for you, we have it—just think of college applications like building an ice cream sundae.

First, you have to have your solid base—your cup. Just like how you can’t build a sundae without a cup, you can’t start your applications without knowing where you want to apply. This summer is the time for college tours for rising high school juniors and seniors. Curate a list of colleges that you want to tour based off of your priorities and qualifications. See our “Time to Tour” blog for tips on how to tour colleges, and make sure you take notes on features that stand out to incorporate in your “Why *Insert School Name” essays later!

Second, it’s time to start building your actual sundae (your application) with your base flavor. Vanilla? Chocolate? Cookies and cream? You choose! This is the essay portion of your applications, and it’s all about making your essay showcase what makes you special and different from other applicants. So what’s your flavor?

Third, you have your second scoop of ice cream—the supplemental essays. This scoop is your second favorite flavor, or the part of yourself that you want to show that is second most important to demonstrating the entire you! Be careful to choose topics that are complimentary to the rest of your essay, meaning that together, the written parts of your essay should weave a narrative about who you truly are.

Fourth, your toppings, the strategic resume portion! So far, your application has the main components, the common app and supplemental essays, but what about the parts of you that aren’t included in just those essays? Everyone is more than just two flavors, so this is your place to show your oreos, M&Ms, and marshmallows. 

Finally, the whipped cream and cherry on top are your letters of recommendation. The key to this step is to ask 2-3 sophomore or junior teachers if they would feel comfortable writing you a STRONG letter of recommendation. Make sure you give them a date that is earlier than you actually need them, and ask early so that they don’t need to rush yours or make it seem generic.

Time To Tour!

Posted on by Emma Sonnenblick

Touring colleges can be tricky, but the summer is the perfect time to hit the road and start touring. We asked a college student her advice for how to best tour colleges, and here are her top three tips!

1) Add college tours onto family vacations to make them more fun. For example, if you are visiting Boston, check out Tufts and Boston University at the beginning of vacation, and Harvard and Boston College at the end. This will spread out the tours, and make them seem like less of a chore.
2) Don’t tour more than 2 colleges in a day. They all start to blend together, and it can get stressful!
3) Ask questions that you can’t find the answers to online. For example, try “What is the typical student like here?” and “What do students like to do on weekends?” These kinds of questions will help you determine what school may be the best fit.

Avoid the Summer Slump With Tutoring

Posted on by Amy Garbis

Avoid the summer slump With a tutoring package!

What is summer slump? It’s that time of year when there’s no school and students forget much of what they’ve learned in the prior nine months.

Did you know that we offer tutoring packages from A Starting Line to help your student avoid the summer slump? We have a…

New Customer Special: Buy a package of 5 hours and get one extra hour for free.

Loyal Customer Special: Buy a package of 10 hours and get credit for an extra 90 minutes of tutoring for free!

Check out our fabulous tutors here.

Our tutors are experienced (in addition to being carefully vetted) in research/essay writing as well as in creative writing, math, science and foreign languages (French and Spanish). 

 

 

Volunteering for a Better World

Posted on by Amy Garbis

Why volunteer? 

Most schools have a minimum requirement for volunteering in order to graduate. But that should not be the sole reason for volunteering. It’s a way to give back, to help others whether people, land or animals – volunteer for a better world. Volunteering is a great way to help you better understand yourself and what you value. Some people like to work with animals and spend part of a Saturday at an animal shelter; others enjoy serving food or loading trucks with food being distributed to families in need. Each school has its own rules regarding what can be counted for volunteering hours, so be sure to check with your school. And if your school doesn’t have a list of pre-approved volunteer organizations/opportunities, try Youth Service America for some excellent ideas.

Don’t forget, you can also design your own volunteer project, and YSA has advice on how to get started. Ultimately, volunteering should make the volunteer feel good about themselves.

What are your volunteering plans for this summer? How will you help make the world better?