The arduous pathway to college acceptance is one which can be extremely foggy for high school students and families taking the first step to higher education. However, admissions offices across the country exist for the very purpose of clearing up that process. Admissions counselors Rich Gooding and Paige Ru from Clemson University and the University of South Carolina , respectively, spoke to the Tribal Tribune about what steps they advise rising seniors and juniors to take on their college applications journey.
On Common App, students are encouraged to share a variety of pieces of information to holistically strengthen their application, but oftentimes, one specific data point can take priority.
“For Clemson specifically … we’re looking heavily at your academic performance, so, that’s GPA (Grade Point Average), class rank, the rigor of the curriculum you’re taking,” Gooding said. “To show that they, they would be … well prepared for college curriculum.”
There is no shortage of rigorous classes at Wando, which Gooding advises students to remember.
“Make sure that students are … taking advantage of the opportunities they’re being offered at their high school, at Wando … and making sure that they’re, you know, trying to take some challenging courses and push themselves academically in high school,” Gooding said.
Test scores are one of the most discussed pieces of the Common App due to recent lawsuits regarding the equitability of SAT and ACT tests, as a result, some schools do not require test scores.
“I believe USC should be test optional this upcoming fall,” Ru said. “I think [students] should focus on deciding whether or not they want to submit any test scores or anything like that.”
According to both Gooding and Ru, students will likely have questions while they continue through the application process, and both offices are available for students to reach out.
“Really for … Clemson specifically … we’re just here for you to answer any questions you have along the way. So … if you have any questions about the application process or getting things submitted … or just questions about what, you know, resources Clemson offers in general … that’s kind of what we’re here for … whether you want to call or email,” Gooding said.
Some universities and colleges track students’ demonstrated interest, shown through interactions like visits and emails, but not all institutions do.
“Here at Clemson, we don’t track demonstrated interest, so during the regular … review periods, we’re not, you know, counting every single email you send or counting every time you call us on the phone,” Gooding said. “[But] some universities do do that.
Another major part of effectively managing the application process from the student perspective regards time management and planning.
“[Students should make] sure that they can get all of those documents … that are required and … just kind of [to] be proactive about what is required for the application. That way they have plenty of time to ask questions [or] to call,” Ru said. “Counselors, teachers … our office as well, without feeling like they’re in a rush later down the line, closer to when, you know, the early action deadline approaches, and then of course, also the regular decision deadline.”
The Common App opens up for seniors over summer break, which causes that break to be an extremely critical timeframe for rising seniors to get a head start on their applications.
“[I am] kind of encouraging juniors to just use the summer before … their senior year to, you know, do their research and get set up … have a Word [Document] … with all the dates and deadlines, figured out, so that when the fall rolls around, they’re not too overwhelmed … because senior year can be busy anyway, so, you want to make the application process as easy as possible,” Gooding said.
