Students grapple with frenetic pace of college selection process, compiling attractive academic portfolio
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West Mifflin Area High School counselor Jennifer Shields, left, advises students such as senior Caitlin Hawthorn to have college applications done by Thanksgiving.
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West Mifflin Area High School senior Caitlin Hawthorn is having a busy year: three Advanced Placement courses, captain of the silks, school musical, track and other activities -- and she is spending a good deal of time documenting her hectic life on 10 college applications.
Caitlin, who hopes to become a dentist, knows she's not alone in experiencing the frantic pace of senior year and pressure of completing college applications.
"I know that it's very competitive," she said.
Caitlin started her college selection process a year ago by reviewing information about a variety of colleges.
But she started to create the academic profile she is submitting to colleges as early as the eighth and ninth grades when she chose to take more difficult math and science classes than required and continued to build an impressive profile throughout high school by choosing challenging courses in all subjects.
Caitlin's path is one recommended by high school counselors and college admissions professionals.
"In terms of picking their classes, from eighth and ninth grade, we start planting the seeds about the rigor of the course load they are going to take," said Shelly Saba, a Mt. Lebanon High School counselor.
Betsy Porter, director of the office of admissions and financial aid at the University of Pittsburgh, said students who have the opportunity to take Algebra 1 in eighth grade should do so.
"By doing that, that gives you the chance by 12th grade to move to a higher level, and math is better preparation for a whole variety of things at the college level," she said.
Taking higher level courses in high school often means taking AP classes, which not only impresses college admissions officers but also enables students to gain college credit while still in high school if they score well enough on the national AP exams.
High school counselors recommend that students have three categories of schools to which they plan to apply: Reach, target and safety.
First Published February 16, 2012 12:00 am
