Tip of the Week - April 30, 2012

For students with the graduation year of:
 
2008: Maintain patience in your job search. As you complete your final semester of college and you continue your job search, do not feel stressed or overwhelmed if you have not yet secured a position. Keep focused on your long-term goals, continue to network and be patient.

2009-2011: Look into taking a summer class at a local institution or online. First, confirm with your school that any credits you might take would transfer. If so, this can be a great way to ensure a timely graduation and make your next year’s schedule less jam-packed.

2012: Be smart in your selection. As May 1 quickly approaches, you will need to secure a spot at one of your schools. Be sure not to count on schools to which you have been placed on the wait list. You may not hear an answer from these schools until June or July, so you will need to secure a spot elsewhere before then.

2013: Get a jump on requesting recommendations. Most schools will require that you submit teacher recommendations as part of your application. At the beginning of senior year, your teachers will be receiving a lot of requests for recommendations. Let the teachers that you’re considering asking know before the end of this school year that you will be seeking a recommendation from them. This could put you at the top of their list of recommendations to write in the fall. Remember that your recommendations typically should come from teachers of core academics (math, science, English, social studies), and ideally they should be teachers that you’ve had in 10th grade and later.

2014 & Above: Create a log or journal of all of your extracurricular involvement. You don’t need to submit a resume or activity sheet to colleges for a few years yet, and by that time, it can be easy to forget what you’ve done. Logging your involvement, including details and accomplishments from each activity, will ensure that your resume is thorough and complete when the time comes.


Sincerely,

Your Friends at Ensphere College Planning Services