Myth #11
“I’m already a Junior (or even a Senior) and I haven’t done anything about college yet, it’s too late for me to make a difference now.”
It’s never too late to stop smoking, to start being nice to people or to start eating healthy food . . . and it’s never too late to make a serious effort at the college admissions process. While they are the exceptions and certainly not the rule, I’ve seen several high school students have remarkable success in spite of starting very late in the game. But whether you manage to pull a rabbit from the hat or not . . . you’ll be in a better position if you make a serious effort . . . even if it’s late!
There are always benefits to getting serious about the admissions process . . . regardless of when you begin. If you’re a “C” student and you don’t get serious until your senior year in high school, well, you might not get into Yale but you can still do yourself a world of good.
I recently received a very thoughtful email from a student who began the process waaaay too late. She was a “B” and “C” student throughout high school. During the summer before her senior year she came to me for some help. She understood that she was beginning late but everyone reaches maturity plateaus at different times. This was a terrific young woman who happened to be an excellent athlete. She had always been told by friends and by family and in a more subtle way, even by teachers, that she didn’t have to excel in the classroom because she excelled on the athletic field.
She had decided that regardless of what anyone else thought she could do . . . she wanted to excel in the classroom and she intended to excel in the classroom. Many of her teachers were pleasantly shocked when she suddenly became an “all A” student during her senior year. Several things happened as a result. First, she significantly improved her position as an applicant because, believe it or not, colleges are often concerned about the academic capability of their athletes. No school wants to loose a star player mid season or waste an athletic scholarship because of academic difficulties.
So, she was suddenly in a better position as an applicant. Her improved academics and standardized test scores earned her an academic scholarship from her state. The major academic turnaround contributed to her winning a $16,000 scholarship from a local business. And finally, the reason she sent me the email was to let me know that the college she chose to attend had decided to increase her generous athletic scholarship by another $8,000 per year based on the athletic and academic success she had earned during her senior year. They had waited to see if the academic improvement was real or just a fluke. Her effort convinced them that it was real. It’s never too late to get serious about the college admissions process or doing well in school!
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