Growing up I never thought I would actually end up going to college. Yes it was always something that I wanted to do, but it was just hard to fathom and picture myself really doing it. Neither of my parents went to college and my mom didn’t finish high school, she started working and is now self-employed. So to say the least there was no one in my immediate family to look up to for help with how to get into college, and more importantly how I was going to pay for it. That meant I was going to have to figure out how to do it myself, because my parents didn’t know what what the first step would even be and neither did I. I had help from my high school counselors but they couldn’t help me with every single little question I had because so much of the process had to be done at home. I’ve been there and it’s really intimidating. So, here are some fundamental steps you should follow.

1. The first step to getting into college is registering for SAT/ACT tests. To know which test you need to take, go to the school website you’re looking into and find the requirements they need from you. The SAT registration is on the CollegeBoard website. The ACT registration is on the ACT registration website.
2. Next step is actually apply to schools. (DO THIS AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE, DON’T PUT IT OFF) You should do a little research on the schools you’re looking into to see what the requirements are and how much each semester will cost. When you’ve figured that out there is usually a link from the schools website that says “apply now” or something along those lines. For Texas universities you can use the Apply Texas website to apply to Texas universities. Through this website you can even copy one application and paste it to a different application for another school (remember this only applies to Texas universities). Also, once you get your SAT/ACT scores back make sure you send them to the college you applied for. The faster they get all the requirements they need, the faster you will hear back from them and also the higher your likelihood of acceptance is.
3. Next you need to start thinking about where the money is going to come from. If your parents can afford it by themselves then you can skip this step, but for most people that’s not the case. So, first you need to apply for FAFSA. FAFSA is money provided by the government for people who cannot afford college, but you don’t have to pay any of the money back.
4. Next you need to go to the schools websites that you’re looking into and find the scholarship page, find one that best suits you and fill it out.
5. To find other scholarships all you have to do is google scholarships, there are a huge amount of random scholarships to apply for. (For example, a family friend found a scholarship for people who have lived in DFW their whole life. So, there is definitely a scholarship out there for you.)
6. If worse comes to worst, there are always loans you can take out from your college/university. They are usually good with working with you on a payment plan and whatnot. Just do a little research on your school’s website.
7. Once you hear back from the school all you have to do is follow the steps in the letter they send.

That’s pretty much all you need to know for the application process! Be sure to look out for all my upcoming blog posts on how to survive college!