COLLEGE REFS

Apologies for the late response! Making friends in college can be quite hard, especially if you’re a commuter. I lived on campus as a freshman in college, but I still didn’t really make any close friends (aka, people I would hang out with or talk to outside of class) until maybe a year into my college career. Personally, I think the best way to make friends in college is to do things on campus-- especially getting a job on campus or joining clubs. By being on campus more you’ll have the opportunity to talk to other students and get to know them in a setting that isn’t in a classroom. This does require you to go out and talk to people, which can be challenging, but that’s just a requirement of making friends. Keep in mind that you’re not going to vibe well with everyone you meet-- even when you’re going out and deliberately trying to make friends, it still may be a while before you meet someone whom you’re compatible with. Try not to feel bad if the first person (or first few people) you meet don’t instantly become your new best friend. Good luck!

This is going to depend on where you apply; some college admissions committees will take the essay into account, while others don’t care as much about the essay portion. I have read several things about how many colleges don’t give too much consideration to the written portions of standardized tests such as the ACT, SAT, or GRE, but again, it will matter based on where you apply. 

If a school you’re applying to does not require applicants to complete the written portion, I would recommend opting for sending the test scores with the lower writing score because they clearly don’t care as much about the essay. In addition, if a school requires you to submit any kind of essay or writing sample that shows of your writing, I think you could also send the scores with the lower writing score, as your application essay can demonstrate that your score on the SAT doesn’t necessarily reflect your actual writing ability. Another way to determine which scores you should send is by looking up the average SAT scores of admitted students-- that way you can see what kind of scores those students had in comparison to your own. Hope this helps!

When schools accept students into their majors, there are a certain number of spots available in each department depending on how big the department is and how much funding the department has. What your counselor probably meant by the idea that they “accept people applying to smaller majors...instead of the more well-known ones” is that it’s a little easier to be accepted to the lesser known majors at any particular school just because the program isn’t as renowned and therefore isn’t as selective. 

I don’t think it’s a bad idea to apply as an English major and change your major later, but another option is to apply as an undeclared student and change your major later. I would definitely check out the average accepted GPA and ACT/SAT scores of English majors versus undeclared students to see which department you have a better shot at being accepted to. 

We’re a little backed up with questions at the moment! I’m working through them a little slower than I’d like because I know how annoying it can be when I clutter peoples dashboards with 20 answered questions in a row. But I promise I’ll get to your questions as soon as I can! :)

I think this response is totally normal. When you’re in a transitional period of life (i.e., transitioning from high school life to college life) it can be very anxiety-inducing because you’ll soon be leaving the routine that you have been used to for the past four years. It also doesn’t help that there’s a lot of rhetoric in the media about how hard it is to find a job, the rising cost of college, etc., so feeling anxious about the future is totally normal in my opinion. I definitely was anxious about starting college after high school, and even now, after graduating college I feel a similar sense of anxiety about the future. But, I think it’s important to just be able to take a step back and remind yourself that things are going to work out eventually and that stressing about the future can be a very negative thing to do for your mental health. Hope this helps a little!

In general, I don’t think learning disabilities will look bad to a college, especially if you have maintained a high GPA despite adversity. My college (and I know my college isn’t representative of all colleges, but I think most schools are probably like this) offered a ton of resources for students who needed accommodations for learning/mental health disabilities. So I doubt that it will be viewed negatively by the schools you apply to. 

You can do either, although some scholarships are specifically for students attending 4-year universities so you may not be able to apply for those until you transfer to a traditional university. Some scholarships will hold funds for you until you plan to use them, so if you indicate that you plan to transfer, you may be able to apply to some scholarships with the intention of saving them for your 4-year university. It is tricky because some scholarships want to know what university you plan to transfer to, so my general advice is just to apply for as many as you can and be aware of what the scholarship provider is looking for.