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.

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA


Hannah Nelsen

Hannah Nelsen

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has helped me look at colleges that fit my interests by taking my profile and matching it to colleges that have the programs I'm looking for. It has the ability to connect me to colleges so I can be contacted by them and look at them more in-depth to find what's right for me. Additionally, the scholarship database is super beneficial for getting scholarships for college. Not only does it help lift the financial burden of college but it shows all the opportunities available. Overall, CollegeXpress has been very helpful to me.

Yuhlani Patterson

Yuhlani Patterson

High School Student

CollegeXpress has helped me find so many scholarships that fit me. They match me to colleges I have specific interest in to make searching for colleges way easier and more efficient. CollegeXpress refers me to schools that have my major of interest and backup schools if I want to change my mind. CollegeXpress also gives out their own scholarships, so you have even more of a chance at gaining multiple scholarships. This website has helped me de-stress from the pressure of not being able to afford college, [of finding] what schools are right for me, and how to find easy access to scholarships that most people never knew existed.

Kory Gilbertson

Kory Gilbertson

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress has helped me explore my views on college in that "why do I wanna go to a certain school" way. It’s helped me explore the best fits in all of these outstanding choices. All these college admission counselors can access my accolades showing them how I could help their college. This source of information helps me show these admission directors who I am and what I'm interested in. Thanks to this platform, my experience for education will be better than most, and I'm so grateful for all that it has provided for me.

Bri'Yana Brown-Dunn

Bri'Yana Brown-Dunn

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress helped me gain interest in many colleges/universities and many scholarships. I would say the most helpful thing CollegeXpress has done for me is sending me emails that tell me certain types of colleges are interested in me as well as emails about scholarships that I can look at and possibly apply for.

Emilie Delgado

Emilie Delgado

$2,000 Community Service Scholarship Winner, 2013

CollegeXpress has tremendously helped me in my search for financial aid opportunities as I enter my college career. It is easy to navigate and quickly narrowed down scholarships that I could apply for. Being awarded the scholarship will greatly help me in my finances regarding books and tuition. Thank you for this opportunity. Without CollegeXpress, it would have been more difficult to apply. I would recommend this site to everyone!