Do’s And Don’ts Consider Which Steps To Take - And What To Avoid - In Preparing For College

Do … be excited about this next step in your life.

College can change your life, so set your sights high.

Don’t … let people scare you out of taking a few risks.

“It’s too expensive.” “You’ll never make it there.”

If you hear these statements, thank them for not sharing and try anyway. If you’re not willing to take a few risks for yourself now, when will you?

Don’t … confuse thinking and worrying with action. Your daydreams and fears about college will come, but the real key is action.

Make a checklist of deadlines and follow it a step at a time.

Do … visit every campus that you seriously think you may attend. Eighty percent of your time at college will be spent outside of the classroom.

Find an environment that will bring out the best in you and that will develop the whole you.

Don’t … think that attendance at a football game or staying for the weekend with your friend constitutes a good campus visit.

Taste the learning environment, sit in a class, and converse one on one with a professor. WSU has several visit programs. Check them out.

Do … keep your grades up. Your high school grade-point average is still the most significant factor in your admission.

Don’t … bring up your GPA by taking lots of “fluff” classes. We notice.

We give a big yes to taking honors and AP classes. If you don’t take them, we’ll wonder why not.

Do … Include information about extracurricular activities, work history, accomplishments.

Don’t … assume these will make up for a poor GPA.

Don’t … be shy. Many universities want to look at more than a transcript. They want to know what you’re like as a person.

If you weren’t involved in school activities because you take care of your brother, let us know.

Do … get help from counselors, parents, friends and teacher. I did! You don’t get medals for doing it yourself.

MEMO: Contributing to this article were several other WSU Admissions Office officials.