Applying for a college means a lot of time and a lot of forms to be filled out, especially if you plan on applying for multiple locations. The most important part of any college application – the part that will make or break your ability to enter your top choice college – is the personal statement essay.

Often referred to as the “application essay” or “statement of purpose,” the personal statement will need to be the most refined part of your college application. You could be a C-average student, but if your personal statement wows the application committee, you could easily be walking through the halls of an Ivy League university.

Personal statement essays generally ask the question, “Why should you be accepted to _______ College/University?” although graduate and professional schools may ask more specific questions that need to be answered. You will need to answer these questions as precise as you can without boring the college’s application committee. These committees are looking for what makes you stand out against a crowd of thousands of other applicants. They want to know about you, where you’ve been and what you’ve used around you to grow. They expect you to be able to do this with a handle on writing and making it flow, as well.

When planning your college application essay, you will want to start well in advance. Starting only a few days before the application is due will only set you up for failure. Leaving a big gap between when you start writing and when you will submit your application along with your essay leaves you time for revision, a quintessential part of the college application essay.

Writing your personal statement essay needs to read as if you are completely passionate about joining a college’s ranks. You will want to write about why you want to do so. Tell the application committee why your eyes are set on their specific college, and what you have to learn from them. If you met a professor that teaches at the college, tell them why you look up to him or how his words touched you. Tell a story about an alumnus you know that graduated from there. Tell them why you are excited to be with them. Avoid boring, long-winded paragraphs about what they already know and really knock the committee out with fluid writing filled with enthusiasm.

The most important thing you will need to focus on in your personal statement is of course you. What has made you the person you are today? Where do you see yourself going after you graduate from college, and what have you done to take steps to get there already? You are attempting to make yourself unique amongst thousands of other applications so you will need to state what makes you so within the essay. Let the application committee know what are the most important and unique aspects about you and your life that they should know.

Finally, you will need to revise your essay. If you don’t think you are a great writer, find someone you know who is. This might be a friend, parent or even your high school English teacher or counselor, but whoever it is make sure you get insight into how you can better write your essay. If you need to do research, don’t falter at not taking that step. These are the pages that will get you into college, so take every step necessary to make your personal statement essay perfect.

What Should You Look For When Visiting a College?

Prospective Students tour Harvard

If the school is on your list to visit, it's safe to assume they've already provided you with enough information about the academic program that it at least has the field you're planning to get into. But just because it's explained beautifully on paper doesn't mean you shouldn't go see it for yourself.

Every school you visit will offer some form of tour. You'll get a chance to walk through the dormitories, academic buildings, library, gym, college center and more with a group of other students interested in attending this school as well. The tours are often lead by current students who know the answer to almost every reasonable question you could ask on the tour. It's always a great idea to bring a note pad and pen with you as your questions may unfortunately not get answered when they were on your mind.

But what types of questions should you ask and what should you be looking for on your College Visit?

If you're planning on living on that campus, you'll want to see the size of the rooms and bathrooms, the common areas and study areas, and of course the cafeteria. You should always ask what type of furniture you're allowed to bring, as some schools have restrictions on what you can bring with you; and you should absolutely purchase a meal at the cafeteria to get an idea of what you'll be eating from now on.

As a commuting student, you'll want to visit the parking area and see how it's set up, figure out if there is a shuttle system to bring you to your classes, and a learn about the commuter center. You'll be spending a little bit of time on campus in between your classes so you should make sure that you'll feel comfortable with the area they have available for you to just relax in.

Regardless of living on campus or not, you'll want to see the rooms that your department's classes will be taught in. Always ask how many students there are in an average class room so you'll have an idea of the type of direct interaction you'll receive. With general purpose buildings like the library and gym you'll want to just make sure they're well equipped. If you're looking to pick up a sport at college, make sure they have all the necessary equipment and facilities for it. Some colleges actually use local town or high school resources for these needs so you should definitely ask that question. And at the library, ask what type of network they're on for book lending. If you're going to need to do a lot of research, you want a library that has access to major libraries in the area to get you the books you need instead of sending you out to find them.

You're going to be spending a lot of time at this school if you choose to go there. It's perfectly acceptable to go for more than one tour or call back and ask questions. Get to know your guide and perhaps ask them for their e-mail so if any other questions pop back up you can contact them about it. Don't settle for a school just because it looks good on paper. Your experience and education depend on how you feel about your environment.

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Writing the “dreaded” senior thesis doesn’t have to be the horrid thing many lower-class undergraduates think that it is. In fact, it should be one of the most enjoyable parts of being in college. You have just spent 3 years listening to professors blab on about topics you may not have been interested in, but required to take in order to fulfill your credit requirements for your major. If you made the right choice while entering college and picked a major you knew you would love, then a senior thesis will be one of your first chances to really make yourself shine and delve into your area of study that you so much enjoy.

When preparing your senior thesis, pick a topic you are truly interested in. A senior thesis is something you get nearly a year to work on, and you will be dedicating a lot of time to it. Making sure you are writing about something you love will make the process all that much easier. A senior thesis can reach upwards of 20 pages, and you certainly don’t want to be stuck writing on a subject you rather wouldn’t want to. Make the questions you will be answering intriguing and about something you really have a passion for knowing about. The research you put towards it will seem much more fulfilling when you can discover your answers.

Start writing your thesis right away, from day one. You will obviously be starting with your abstract, but once you are past that stage, keep writing. Every day, attempt to write a little more on your subject. If you haven’t put in the research needed to get to the next stage in writing your senior thesis, go back and revise your pages. Putting in work earlier saves you time in the long run. Even just 10 minutes a day the month you start developing your thesis saves you 5 hours that you might spend on an all-nighter the week your final senior thesis is due.

Allow for expansion in your senior thesis. The last thing you want to be doing is limiting yourself to only the questions you asked in your first draft of your abstract. Why would you want to limit yourself on a senior thesis? Writing a senior thesis is all about proving questions that don’t always have specific questions. If you are truly interested in changing your thesis for something that you find more intriguing, then go for it. This is your last time to prove yourself in college, so make it your paper and show how passionate you were about writing it.

As usual with any writing project, you will need critique. The criticism necessary for a senior thesis may be a little harder to come by than what you were normally used to with your other undergraduate papers. Here, you will want professionals in the field you are studying from to examine your senior thesis. Ask graduate students and professors that have experience with your topic to take a look. Not only is this some of the best critique you can get, but it can also provide you with invaluable information that can help you get answers and write further within your senior thesis.

A senior thesis is your first chance to get a grasp on real world work. You won’t be answering test questions or reading from any textbooks after graduation; people will be looking to your research skills and abilities. Make sure you prove yourself here, so they know you can be relied on.

Taking classes outside of your major is an important step if you are undecided about your major or if you are not extremely sure. One extra class a semester will not hurt you much and if you have the extra time, it is a great use of time. The simple fact is that most kids going to school do not know what they want to major in. After 2 or 3 semesters of taking classes, they decide to change their major and are left with nothing to show for the previous classes they took.

The fact is that most majors require very different classes and changing your major will delay your date of graduation significantly. It would be an ideal situation if you know what major to choose and follow through with it for four years and graduate from college even though the stats show that this is incredibly unrealistic. Taking a variety of classes to complement your core classes will give you a bit of leeway incase you do want to change your major. It would still be like starting all over, but those 12 to 15 credits you accumulated will skim one whole semester of work.

If you decide to take this advice, try taking some classes that apply to your second or third major selection. If possible, find some classes that would fulfill the requirements for multiple majors you are interested in. You also do not have to choose the hardest possible classes for your major; after all, you might not need them in the future. Take some easy classes and make sure you enjoy the subject and have a legitimate interest in it. Who knows, maybe taking some of these classes will open your eyes to new possibilities and new career tracks that you enjoy more than your current path. On the other hand, maybe you will take these classes and absolutely hate the subject that you thought you would enjoy. Either way, these extra classes are a real eye opener and often help students choose their major for good or even have it develop into a minor degree.

Another great reason to take these extra classes is for the possibilities that they offer. If you find that you enjoy your extra classes, use them towards a minor to further enhance your degree weight or simply take them as extra knowledge that you might find useful later on in life. You never know when things come up and these classes will be practical for you.

Taking classes outside your major can also open you up to new ideas and opportunities. The main benefit here is the new professors you will have access to that are normally not available to those in your selected major. New teachings, ideas and opinions from other professors provide a new perspective on learning the material rather than the standard teachings of the close knit professors in your major.

Whatever way you decide to pursue the extra classes, one thing is for sure, you will find them very useful and they will help you solidify your intended major or help you pick a new one as quick as possible. One way or another, you cannot loose with this strategy.

The most important step you could take is going to your academic advisor and exploring your options. They will be happy to point you in the right direction and will help you make a more informed decision.

While preparing your college education, you will probably already be ready to choose your major course of study. Even if you aren’t, your first two years in most colleges you can spend taking electives and generals until you will have to declare your major. You can take this time to experiment with new courses until you find something you enjoy. This time can also be used to consider taking courses that will obtain you a minor degree.

Getting a minor degree is something to consider for any undergraduate student. While it certainly doesn’t hurt anyone’s major degree with the added benefit of a minor, it may cost a little extra money from your wallet. The extra courses needed to obtain a minor, if not taken soon enough (while you still have free elective credits to pick from) can cost more than a pretty penny.

Another thing to consider when deciding to take a minor degree is whether or not it will actually be of any use to your major. In many cases, some majors won’t get you jobs any easier than they would had you ever attended college. This might include majors like an English major, History or Social Sciences major. These majors are good for graduate schools and further continued education; however, on their own, it will be difficult to find a high-end job.

When pairing a major that could really use a minor, (we’ll use an English major for example) you will need to choose a minor that will diversify you, yet still be relevant to the major. An English major alone might be able to get you some sort of writing job, but maybe not a prestigious one. Think about what you could pair it with. Would a creative writing minor be a good path to choose from? You wouldn’t get much use from this, as it is an English minor partnered with an English major. Instead, you don’t want something that will be very similar, but a minor that will compliment that major. Try associating that English major with a minor in public relations, journalism, or something as intriguing as video and film production to get better results.

For other types of majors that may not have as quite a difficult time getting a job in their field, a minor degree is another way to diversify yourself even more. Studying a minor can give you skills to move up against other employees, or get a job that needs those abilities you would only qualify for with that minor. For business majors, you may want to think about getting a minor degree in another popular language, especially if it is used commonly in your local area. An accounting major with a Spanish minor might qualify you to be a high-paid banker, able to work with both English and Hispanic customers.

Don’t overlook a minor just because it might take a little more effort. In the long run, those 4 years of effort may shape the way you live for the rest of your life. The extra skills you can gain from obtaining a minor degree can be a deciding factor in what jobs you qualify for and which ones you don’t.