As an incoming Senior at Marin Catholic High School, I am just beginning my college process. Over the past few months, there have been a few tools that helped me avoid college “freak outs”.

Number one: make good use of your counselor! Set up meetings with your counselor with specific goals for each meeting. My counselor and I would specify which supplements I would be responsible for completing before each meeting and then we would review a week or so later. Personally, I was lucky enough to have an out of school counselor in addition to my Marin Catholic counselor, which definitely helped to push me along and avoid procrastination. But obviously, that is a luxury that not everyone will have, so all I can recommend is to start drafting your apps in the early summer of junior year, and continue to eat away at the work all summer. I know that procrastinating can take over, but set up reminders on your phone, or even ask your parents to hold you accountable and remind you to simply set aside 30 minutes a day, or even a supplement per week. 

Number two: start with your UC essays first! I can’t stress enough how helpful it was to have completed my 4 UC supplements before any other colleges, because I was able to reuse a lot of them. If you’re interested in any UCs, this route saved me tremendous amounts of time and stress with individual college supplements and even my main common app essay. 

Number three: Keep copies of all your supplements and essays! I was not careful enough and lost all of my supplements for Chapman University because I forgot to copy and paste them into a doc. When I refreshed the common app site, they were gone. This is also just a way to stay organized with all your applications so you can easily reference all your work.

When it is time for you to embark on your college journey, just remember that God has a plan for you, and you will end up where you are meant to be. Yes, disappointment and rejection are inevitable, and the months leading up to your college decision may not always be easy, but have faith! Your friends and family will be there with you every step of the way, so do not be afraid to ask for help and advice from them.