For overachieving senior Emily Johnson, nothing she saw on her college applications was new to her. Ever since her freshman year of high school, Johnson has been planning for college. Her extensive preparations consisted of clubs, leadership roles, college application courses, and full AP schedules.
Johnson has always been ahead of the rest, taking her ACT starting her sophomore year until she received the score she desired, a 34. In June, she began to plan out the college application process so that in August, she’d be prepared to fill them out. She applied to IVY leagues such as Yale, and closer universities such as UVA, Virginia Tech, JMU, and UMaryland.
“I started making my application, really thinking about my personal statement, my resume in June, which was super early,” Johnson said. “But that really gave me a lot of time so that on August 1st, when the portal opened, I was able to just fill out everything really fast.”
Johnson doesn’t strive for perfection or even for an A, even with a 4.45 GPA, her goal in taking AP courses is to learn all she can. Throughout her high school career she’s taken 12 APs including three levels of history, two levels of English, Psychology, three levels of math, and three levels of science.
“I feel like every class has kind of taught me something different. I think the biggest thing that I can take away from just taking a bunch of AP courses is that it’s not just what you’re studying, but it’s how you apply it,” Johnson said.
For many, taking this many APs would cause severe burn out, but for Johnson, she believes they benefit her in the long run.
Managing her many APs along with her clubs and afterschool ballet practices and performances can be stressful, but she always makes it work. By getting an early start on college applications, Johnson was able to get them out of the way, so she can focus on her academics and extracurriculars throughout the school year.
“During the weekends, I’m working constantly…I go to dance and it’ll be like 4 to 7 and then as soon as I get home, I’m exhausted, so I just sleep. So, I don’t have a whole lot of time on the weekdays to do a whole lot of work…but I make up for it on the weekends, I’ll work for seven or eight hours,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s family highly values their academics, pushing her to strive for the very best. Through this, she was able to utilize the help from her parents to have second opinions on her essays. With their feedback, she was able to submit her applications confidently.
“I know some people don’t like asking their parents to read their stuff, but for me, my parents read all my things immediately. My first rough draft to the final edit, they’ve read everything I’ve written,” Johnson said.
Johnson believes that the most important part of high school college applications isn’t trying your best to be the most “well-rounded” but to show your interests and prove your passion for what you plan on studying.
“It’s sooner than you think and you kind of have to start finding out what you want your application to be centered around sooner rather than later,” Johnson said. “I think that if you kind of know what you want to do, what you want to go into, you really want to start doing activities and making a narrative that really aligns with what you want to go into so that an admissions officer can pick up your paper and know exactly who you are.”
Need help with college applications and financial aid? Contact Hayfield’s College & Career Specialist, Amy Ferguson, at [email protected].
