In my four years of high school I felt that college was unimportant and something that would eventually come after two years of COC. While I fully agree that the smartest way (financially) would be to do two free years of school at COC, I knew that that wouldn’t be my path. I decided that I wanted to leave home and go to a four year university in another state. If I’m being honest, before this year I couldn’t have gotten into college, so I had to make a big change. I took classes over the summer and into the school year that took up a lot of time, but ultimately paid off well. 

Being that I didn’t have the strongest application transcript wise, I decided to do everything I could to show the school I was serious and determined to go there and take each optional opportunity in the application process I could. The personal statement, the teacher recommendations and visiting the school all aided in my acceptance into colleges. What I learned during this process is that schools value your eagerness and passion to go to school. While this might not work for more rigorous schools, it is still a great way to show schools that you care. 

My last piece of advice is to start early. Research the schools you want to attend over the summer, start your personal statement as soon as possible and stay updated with deadlines.