Applying to College
Starting the Process
Working with their SJA college advisor, students curate a list of 6-8 colleges to research, visit, and ultimately apply to. All juniors create a Common App account, start a resume and personal statement draft, and request recommendation letters from their teachers with support from SJA College Advising. SJA college advisors work closely with seniors to edit and revise essays, finalize resumes, prepare for interviews, and submit documents in a timely fashion. Most seniors are ready to submit applications by mid-to-late October. We strongly encourage students to finish applying before the holidays.
Common Application
SJA College Advising recommends that students apply using the Common Application rather than completing individual institutional applications. The Common Application is a single online college application form used by over 900 colleges and universities. Instead of filling out the same general information—like address, GPA, and extracurriculars— a dozen times, students only have to do it once. The Common App dashboard also helps students track necessary application documents (like letters of recommendation) and important deadlines.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Juniors will start their personal statement during English class in the spring semester. The SJA college advisors and the English Department collaborate to teach the college personal statement and share helpful writing methods and brainstorming tools with students. Throughout the summer before senior year and into the fall, seniors continue to revise their personal statement, as well as any supplemental college essays, with their college advisor.
Essay resources: