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By focusing on preparation and practice, The Princeton Review helps students improve their performance on standardized tests and in class.
Listen to Shantanu Tandon, Master Trainer and Natalie Wong, Admissions Counselor answer the most common questions about US university/college applications, the GMAT, SAT, TOEFL and how to be best prepared.
- What is the Princeton Review?
- Which tests can be prepared for at the Princeton Review?
- Why study in the US?
- What do you need in order to apply to an American University?
- When do you need to prepare your application?
- How does the Princeton Review prepare its students for standardized tests?
- What do I need to succeed?
- Why choose the Princeton Review?
Senioritis (see nee your right us): n. Low academic performance among seniors in high school, usually caused by the end of college application process. Symptoms include noticeable absence from class, blank stares, and excessive chatter about graduation.
Because second semester grades won’t be released until after admissions decisions have been made, many seniors think their grades aren’t important anymore. Not true!
Second semester grades still impact several things:
1. Graduation: If you fail a required class, you’re not going to graduate. If you don’t graduate, you don’t go to college. Simple.
2. Scholarships: Plenty are based on yearend class rank and academic performance. If you’re requesting a review of your financial aid package, strong final grades can certainly help.
3. Offers of admission: A college’s offer could be rescinded if you mess up your final grades. And your second-semester grades truly matter if you’ve been waitlisted. By submitting strong grades for your senior year, you’re giving admissions committee one more reason to review your application favorably.
4. Advanced Placement: If you plan to take the AP or IB exams, you may be in luck. Most colleges give college credit if you earn a high enough score on these exams, which means you won’t have to pay to retake these classes in college once you’re enrolled.
Juniors! You will be working on applications in September, so start thinking about colleges now. Research online. Talk to friends who will be graduating soon. Talk to cousins in college. If you want guidance through admissions, call for a private introduction to our counseling.
“The Deadline Has Passed…Now What?”
Christmas has just come and gone and you’ve just submitted the bulk of your applications. Time to sit back and wait for the decisions…feels odd, doesn’t it?
Of course it feels odd! There are still things you need to do right now. There are schools that accept applications by Jan 15 or on a rolling basis, which basically means these schools review and decide on applications as they are received until there are no openings left in the entering class. If you have
this kind of school on your list, make sure you submit your application now. No point in delaying the process when you don’t have much homework to do or many tests to study for.
Scholarships and financial aid are typically something many students look for, so know the deadlines for these applications. For international students (i.e. non-US citizens or permanent residents), these applications will be different for each college you apply to. US citizens in need of aid typically have to fill out the FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Deadlines are typically February 1st – check with each school to be sure.
If the questions about your income and your parents’ income and assets seem annoying to you, think again. Presuming you qualify for at least some financial aid, think about completing the application as a paid job. If you get $2000 in grant money by completing the application, and if it takes you and your parents four hours to complete it (it probably won’t even take that long), it’s the same as having a job that pays you $500 an hour. If you worked 40-hour workweeks that paid you that same rate, you’d earn $1,000,000 a year.
So quit your whining. Complete the application.
Don’t forget to send your transcript to all of the colleges to which you’ve submitted an application. Also don’t forget to send updated transcripts to your scholarships.
To Do:
- Finish any outstanding apps with January deadlines.
- Complete financial aid applications.
- Make last effort to find and apply for appropriate scholarships.
- Make sure all your recommendations have been sent.
- Send updated transcripts with your grades from Sept-Dec to colleges.
- Determine if you need
What others are asking!