Applying for college is definitely the most stressful part of senior year. All the school years add up to this final moment, creating an immense amount of pressure. Panic begins to fill every student’s chest as they realize what they should or should not have done. But I am here to tell you the worst thing you could do is stress. Truly, college applications aren’t as insane as they seem as long as you do not procrastinate. 

Thanks to the help of Common App, it is actually a very swift process for the most part. My biggest piece of advice is to  not think of college applications as individual entities. Instead, think of crafting one portfolio you are submitting to different places that ask you the same questions. The three main parts of your college portfolio is your resume, essay, and transcript. These are tailored to tell a story, starting with a resume that explains what you did with your time,  transcript telling them how well you did in school, and transcript telling them how well you did in school. . All of these are vital pieces to making one big cohesive student to “sell” to colleges. Apart from those three big main parts, you will also need to answer basic questions concerning your residency, the major you wish to apply for, family background, and other more factual questions. 

Resume 

Now, for the first part of your portfolio, start with your resume as soon as possible. This will enable you to see what you truly have done throughout the years and what you need to do. Complete at least a draft of your resume by the beginning of your senior year so that if you come to the realization that you do not have enough, you are able to join new clubs and volunteer at new places during the beginning of your senior year!  

In your resume, you should ensure to include all leadership positions, clubs/ extra curriculars, jobs, all community service, and everything you have done throughout the last 4 years. Personally, I ensured that everything I did aligned with my interests. For instance, when I was questioning my career, I began to volunteer in a hospital setting just to see if it was for me. While I enjoyed my time, I realized it was not a career meant for me. Do not join every club on Earth and do not do over-the-top things that make you question life. Do things you like and be authentic to yourself. Colleges are not looking to see who has done more, they are looking for a strong leader who has a personality.  

Additionally, I also organized my resume depending on what I deemed most meaningful and recent at the top. I divided it by sections as well to make it easy to read. My cohesive sections consisted of my community service, activities, work experience, and awards. Here is a quick list to give you a gist of everything I included into my essay: 

Community Service:  

• Volunteer at Advent Health Celebration Hospital for 3 years  

• Volunteer at Multiple Osceola County Elementary Schools for 4 years  

Activities:  

• Co-Founder and Vice President of Helping Hearts, Mental Health Awareness Club  

Vice President of National Alliance on Mental Illness NAMI for 2 years  

• Event Leader (2023-2024) and President (2024- 2025), Active Member for 3 years  

• Reporter for the OCSA Ledger for 3 years  

• Prom Chair for 1 year  

• Drama Major, Participated in 3 productions- 1 year  

• Played Flute in the Celebration High School Marching Band- 1 year  

Work Experience  

• Front of the House Trainer, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Celebration, FL for 1.5 years  

• Hostess, Space 220 Disney’s Epcot, Orlando FL since November 2024 to current  

Awards  

• Poem “Lost In Time” Published By Atlantis At Blaze Literary Magazine 2024  

• National Hispanic Recognition Award by College Board 2023  

• International Thespian 2023  

• 1st Place, State and National Next Generation Winner 2022 

Essay 

For this portion of your portfolio, it is crucial to brainstorm and word vomit. Look through all the prompts and see which speaks to you the most. Make a list under each if you are unable to choose and pick the one that shows the most of you. View your essay as your voice and space to explain. This is where you can explain yourself and give them a peak into your life. They don’t want to hear your trauma dump or feel sorry for yourself; they want to hear about something that means a lot to you and see how you overcame that. They want to see a resilient, strong, and forthcoming type of person. They want to see someone inspiring and who will not give up.  

My essay was about a tough time in my life but it was not about how hard and sad it was. Instead, it was about how grateful I am for having that tough time because it shaped me to become the person I am today. I started my essay explaining that I grew up being a heavy sleeper as a blissfully avoidant child, but during that rough time in my life, I became a light sleeper, hyper- aware of the problems of the world around me. Now, that I have found peace in my life and found the strength in myself to persevere, I am no longer a light sleeper and have returned to being a heavy sleeper, maintaining my bliss but not my avoidance. I injected my essay with imagery, details, and overall crafted a window into my life.  

You don’t need to share an insane story, all you need is a moment that changed you and the right words. The essay can be simple, but as long as it is meaningful, it will make for a great essay. Use your resources and ask for feedback. I took my essay to my college councleor, creative writing teacher, best friend, and older sister to critique it. I have strong relationships with all of those people so I asked them if they saw me in the essay, which they did. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and to have others read your essay. 

Transcripts 

This portion is quite simple. If you think your GPA is not high enough, you have the chance of taking a few classes in the first semester that can boost your GPA for regular decision deadlines. Materials like transcripts and test scores are due after applications usually, so remember you have time but not a lot. Make every class count.  

I also recommend to double check all your classes with your transcript. Sometimes there might be one class off and it can cause a noticeable changes, so just double check. Ensure to ask your school counclor what you need to do for them to send each college your transcript! For one college, I completely forgot to ask and they put me in an automatic waitlist for not turning in my materials on time. Some colleges are different so don’t forget to check! 

Submitting Applications 

Once you have completed the three main parts of your portfolio, I beg of you to apply to early action. I did not and it was one of my biggest regrets. I found out I got accepted to a college in March for the Summer semester and now I am cramming at work to get enough money to move out. So please apply to early action if you can! 

As a heads up, complete your resume under the activities tab in the common app but also prepare your resume on a separate document for the schools that want it like that. Some schools might ask you to do your transcript through an SSAR which is a place that you have to manually enter every class and grade then link the college to. Pay attention to how they want your information sent. Remember that a few colleges will ask for an additional essay, so make note of that when organizing your time. 

After this relief is off your shoulders, you will be ready to just sit back and wait for those letters to roll in. Applying to college can be simple, just take your time on each section of your portfolio and you should be fine. Look into at least 10- 15 colleges, with different acceptance rates and costs. Make sure you find the college that is best for you in program quality, location, size, cost, and values. Listen to some jazz and complete each part with ease, do not stress it won’t help at all. You got this and good luck!