Tips for Keeping Up with your College Search

As you begin (or continue) your college search, here are some resources and tips that I hope you’ll find helpful.

• Take advantage of opportunities to get to know the people and culture of the colleges you’re considering. Most colleges offer a wide variety of events and sessions for prospective students, and you may want to consider attending more than one for a better understanding of campus culture. At Le Moyne, you can take part in:
  • Information Sessions (there are also sessions available for specific academic programs)
  • Chat with an Admission Counselor or Faculty member
  • Fall Open Houses
  • Virtual Tours of Campus

• Think about your letter(s) of recommendation. Do you have someone (teacher, coach, etc.) from this past school year that you were planning on asking to write a letter of recommendation on your behalf? If so, then you should reach out to that person and make that request now. You always want to give that person ample amount of time to write this letter and while it is still fresh in their minds.
• Review application requirements. Do you have an idea of how many colleges that you may apply to in the fall? Do you also know what colleges those will be? If so, then go to those respective admission websites and review the required application documents. Many colleges will be similar in that regard, but not always. Therefore, you can start to put together lists of all documents needed in order to complete your application. Once those lists are compiled, you can start communicating that information to your school counselors in preparation of applications becoming available.
• Consider your application options. Have you thought about what application you plan to complete? Are you thinking of using the Common Application or specific college applications? Always make sure to adhere to application requirements of each school, but it is always beneficial to start navigating through each option. The Common Application is live on August 1st and many college applications will follow suit.
• Brainstorm ideas for your College Essay. This is always one of the more challenging/stressful aspects of the college admission process. Use the summer months to brainstorm ideas for your essay. What do you want to tell a college about yourself that is not easily identifiable through other supporting documents? If you are using the Common Application, then you can look at the essay prompts on their website. Individual college applications may have different topics or may even leave the topic up to you. The summer is a great time to relax from the hard work that you have put in, but also a great time to brainstorm and prepare for the upcoming college application process.
• Research, Research, Research. It’s important to review the information that is readily available to you about each college (websites, social media, alums, etc.). Keep doing your research, so when you are able to visit colleges and/or speak with admission representatives, you have your list of questions ready that will help in discerning the difference between School A & School B.

As you navigate through this process, please let me know if you have any questions and how I (and the rest of the Le Moyne community) can be of additional assistance.

Derek D. Demperio
Director of Campus Visit Experience
demperdd@lemoyne.edu