Why wait for tomorrow when you can do it today?
Procrastination is a problem many people face. I know that I can easily procrastinate by doing tasks like cleaning my junk drawer or browsing through the Internet’s endless offerings instead of grading final papers at the end of a semester. Of course, after years of practice, I am totally aware that I am simply avoiding something that must be done and that no one is going to grade those papers. Yet, I procrastinate because I often don’t want to face the mountains of prose that need my undivided attention. Since I teach a college course on academic success, I have studied the three basic causes: perfectionism, feeling overwhelmed, and inaccurate prioritizing.
Clearly feeling overwhelmed by the attention needed to complete the college application process and wanting it all to be perfect can cause a student to worry and procrastinate. However, some students see the many steps in the process and wait until the “day before” to accomplish the tasks. On the surface these two situations appear very different, but they can create the same outcome, which is procrastination. In either case, it definitely interferes with a student actively participating in the college application process. So here is some advice from EA on how to proceed!
If you have just completed your sophomore year in high school, you are taking your first breaths of a summer vacation as a junior. As you “put your feet up” and think about your accomplishments, you might also be thinking that your junior year is filled with lots of “stuff” that is above the usual studying, working, and participating in all sorts of extracurricular activities. And if those are your thoughts, you are absolutely correct, and you might just want to search the Internet or binge all day rather than deal with anything related to college. But unfortunately, the college application process will remain in front of you no matter how long you binge. So our EA Team suggests one more time that you take a few steps forward while you are on summer vacation. A few steps at this time, prevents you from feeling overwhelmed during your junior year.
If you are starting your senior year, and you are not working on your college application then you have truly procrastinated. AN EA ALERT: YOU NEED TO START IMMEDIATELY. You have clearly procrastinated enough that you are entering the danger zone. Run, do not walk to your Common Application Website, create a password, and begin. You need to know when the deadlines are for Early Decisions and Regular Decisions for each school. There is no time to think about doing it another day nor to be a perfectionist. (Yes, of course, you should edit and proofread each item carefully.) Begin today and you can still meet your deadlines!
If you need assistance, please reach out to the EA Team. Help is just a phone call (845.582.0017) or email (educationallyaware@gmail.com).
Clearly feeling overwhelmed by the attention needed to complete the college application process and wanting it all to be perfect can cause a student to worry and procrastinate. However, some students see the many steps in the process and wait until the “day before” to accomplish the tasks. On the surface these two situations appear very different, but they can create the same outcome, which is procrastination. In either case, it definitely interferes with a student actively participating in the college application process. So here is some advice from EA on how to proceed!
If you have just completed your sophomore year in high school, you are taking your first breaths of a summer vacation as a junior. As you “put your feet up” and think about your accomplishments, you might also be thinking that your junior year is filled with lots of “stuff” that is above the usual studying, working, and participating in all sorts of extracurricular activities. And if those are your thoughts, you are absolutely correct, and you might just want to search the Internet or binge all day rather than deal with anything related to college. But unfortunately, the college application process will remain in front of you no matter how long you binge. So our EA Team suggests one more time that you take a few steps forward while you are on summer vacation. A few steps at this time, prevents you from feeling overwhelmed during your junior year.
If you are starting your senior year, and you are not working on your college application then you have truly procrastinated. AN EA ALERT: YOU NEED TO START IMMEDIATELY. You have clearly procrastinated enough that you are entering the danger zone. Run, do not walk to your Common Application Website, create a password, and begin. You need to know when the deadlines are for Early Decisions and Regular Decisions for each school. There is no time to think about doing it another day nor to be a perfectionist. (Yes, of course, you should edit and proofread each item carefully.) Begin today and you can still meet your deadlines!
If you need assistance, please reach out to the EA Team. Help is just a phone call (845.582.0017) or email (educationallyaware@gmail.com).
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