Summer months are a welcome breath of humid, but nevertheless, fresh air for most of South Carolina’s 200,000 plus high school students. While many high school teens will take to the beaches, mountains or sports and academic camps, one group with an aggressive summer agenda is the rising seniors. College Sage, a Charleston based Independent Education Consultancy, estimates that there are approximately 8,225 college–bound high school students in Charleston County and that means a little over 2,000 rising seniors are busy visiting colleges, sprucing up resumes, brainstorming essays and getting a jump start on the Common Application.
“There are about 5,000 very well qualified South Carolina rising seniors vying for the top in and out of state college programs”, says Susan Leadem, Founder of College Sage.
The Good News – Bad News About this Year’s Common App
For those academically inclined rising seniors, there is little rest after the challenging junior year of Honors and AP courses, SAT and ACT testing and enriching extracurricular pursuits. In fact, unlike past summers when the Common Application was not available until August 1, this year the Common App is already live! The good news is that students have two extra months to write those essays; the bad news is there is no excuse to put the college essay off until August!
The Rising Senior Summer To-do List
College Sage encourages students to make the most of their summer free time by:
- Brainstorming essay ideas (and parents your ideas help … what do you see in your child?) and writing essays
- Visiting colleges to help narrow down the application list
- Emailing your school counselor your top college choices and asking for feedback
- Organizing a summer capstone event (whether it be a job, volunteer opportunity, summer course, contest or experience)
- Putting finishing touches on your high school resume
- Completing the basics of the Common Application
- Completing summer homework and counselor homework
- Reading something out of the box related to your interests and
- Attending shows, performances, and lectures.
