In 2024, the evolving landscape of college admissions and the complexity of the college application process requires meticulous planning and attention to detail. Before checking all the boxes on the college application, including submitting essays, letters of recommendation, and transcripts, it is important to first select the right college admissions goals. Here are the steps you can use to succeed in the first months of 2024.
Choose An Intended Major
Even though many young people are still figuring out what they want to do in college, I recommend that most students go through the process of choosing an intended major during the first months of 2024. The step to learn about academic majors at universities and what courses are underneath these majors is a highly valuable step that allows students to explore what academic life is like in college.
The process of choosing a major early on will help to drive student priorities for academics and extracurriculars for the forthcoming year. Remember that the classes you take in school (and how well you perform in these classes) should directly reflect the strengths that are valued in the major you are intend to apply for. For example, if you want to be an English major, but have consistent Bs in English (with As in other subjects), consider applying to a different major.
Can’t decide a major? There are a number of assessments that support major selection, such as the Highlands Ability Battery which tests your natural talents and matches you with best-fit majors and college environments.
Want to apply undecided? That is an acceptable path but may mean that you could struggle to write essays that ask you about academic interests; or that it is a prudent step for you to prioritize colleges that emphasize academic exploration and ease of changing majors.
Choosing a major is an important step to helping you focus on where to put your academic and extracurricular time. Decisions such as course selection, extracurricular priorities, and where you choose to apply to college are influentially driven by the choice of major (or the choice to apply undecided).
Plan College Visit and Fair Attendance
During these first months of the year, plan out when you will visit colleges, either virtually or in person. As a supplement to college visits, connect with college representatives such as current students, faculty, professors, and administrators.
There are a number of online and offline resources to visit colleges such as NACAC National Fairs, College Fairs Online, StriveScan, YouVisit, You can also check regional check NACAC Affiliates for Fair such as PACAC for Pennsylvania and WACAC for West Coast. If you qualify, consider pursuing fly-in programs that aim to recruit underrepresented minorities.
Subscribe And Follow
Many colleges use CRM tools and AI supports for recruiting and selecting students. For colleges that track demonstrated interest, you should subscribe to these colleges’ email lists as well as open and click the links in their emails. When in doubt about whether or not the college is tracking, subscribe anyway. You can also indicate your interest in a specific college via tools such as Naviance and Niche. In Naviance, you can often find the regional representatives’ contact information to ask questions.
Even though the Common App has historically opened on August 1, it is also a good idea to sign up for a Common Application account now so that you can begin getting application update emails.
If you use social media, begin to like, follow, and subscribe to the colleges’ broadcasts or posts. However, use social media with caution. Since colleges use CRM to track prospective applicants, your email and social media handles may be easily found especially if you’ve linked your accounts to your cell phone number. I would recommend that students be judicious about using social media and take steps to ensure a positive online presence in the event that colleges (or future employers) are tracking.
Choose Summer Opportunities Wisely
During this first part of 2024, you can also choose summer activities with an intentionality behind them. Each activity can serve a purpose for your admissions candidacy, whether it is demonstrating your interest in an academic subject, enhancing your knowledge of a field of study, earning work experience, or gaining exposure to a career field that interests you.
Beyond the academic curriculum available at their high schools, students who stand out in their applications tend to nurture intellectual interests via conducting research. Know that many of the top colleges prioritize research, which is demonstrated by their Carnegie Classification as well as through colleges’ direct requests for research supplements on the college application. There are both free and paid programs that students can engage in to complete research; or students can work independently on a research project via self-study.
Building a successful college candidacy starts with setting the right goals. By embarking on these steps in the first part of 2024, you or your student will be poised for success in the college application process.