Tiger interviewed some of this year’s seniors for their best advice regarding the college application process. However, keep in mind that everyone has a unique experience. This Center spread is a guideline put together from what seniors said, but it is by no means a definitive timeline or a list that fits everyone. Use it as a guide, but not as an instruction set. This spread ran in Tiger‘s January 2026 print issue; view the PDF here.
Story by Zoe Chen & Anna McDonnell
Print Managing Editor & Staff Writer
Visuals by Lanah Kim
Design Editor
Contents
- Student use of private consultants
- Demystifying letters of recommendation
- Seniors’ best pieces of advice
- To-do list
Student use of private consultants
There are three main types of private assistance during the college application process: all-around college consultants, essay readers, and standardized test tutors. Consultants work across the spectrum and can help applicants build college lists, develop application strategies, and craft compelling essays. Tutors and essay readers are, as their names suggest, more specialized in the help they provide.
“From the people I’ve talked to, it seems like most people do have college counselors at South Pas,” senior Sarah Kano, who did not have a private consultant, said. “I think it helps, because at first you think you know what you’re doing, but then you learn you don’t. But that’s part of the process too, learning to navigate things.”
Essay readers offer narrower ranges of assistance. Some are former admissions officers at top colleges and have a strong sense of what current admissions officers at colleges around the country are looking for, and how students can hone their essays to meet that.
“I didn’t hire a college counselor or college reader person, but I do think, from talking to other people, that a lot of people did have some sort of college counselor or reader. I think it is a pretty normalized thing,” senior Eva Stephenson said. “The majority of the people that I know did have one.”
Similarly, some juniors and seniors seek out help specifically for standardized testing. Senior Audrey Berkobien, after taking a practice ACT, took an ACT prep course. Berkobien believed the tutoring to be helpful.
“I did a practice ACT, and I did really bad, and so I was like ‘okay, I think I need some extra help,’” Berkobien said. “I did do the Revolution Prep ACT prep; I think it was a six-week prep course, so I did that last year [junior year].”
Hired help, however helpful, is often expensive. It is worth emphasizing that private assistance is in no way an integral part of the college application process. There are free resources, practice tests, study tips, and planning guides available online. Seniors emphasized that even if a student does not use a private counselor, they are not going through the college application process alone.
“If you have any friends who are older and in college, talk to them. Getting genuine help does really help your process. It doesn’t need to be an expensive paid counselor, but talk to as many people as you can,” senior Elleina Caine said.
Demystifying letters of recommendation
Letters of recommendation (LORs) are a key component of college applications. Most colleges and universities require LORs, but the exact requirements for each institution vary. At SPHS, receiving a letter of recommendation can be difficult but not cutthroat.
The counselor LOR is fairly straightforward. At the beginning of senior year, the counseling department will announce a mandatory senior class meeting, along with updates posted to the Google Classroom. A questionnaire will be sent out, along with a packet of information to fill out. It’s paramount that students and parents fill out the questionnaire to the best of their ability as counselors will use the provided information to contextualize the college application.
The teacher LOR is where planning and proactiveness pays off. Most students ask teachers about LORs towards the end of the second semester of junior year (but not during finals period). This is a great time to ask because teachers are likely to appreciate your proactiveness. It’s recommended to ask a teacher in-person and be direct.
AP Biology teacher Elizabeth Pierson issues a guide to asking for letters of recommendation to her junior students at the tail end of second semester. She recommends asking recommenders in person “at least a month in advance of the deadline” in a “formal manner [that is not] casually in passing or an informal email.”
Some teachers will add you to future communications or ask you to follow up in the fall. Most teachers will release official information at the beginning of senior year.
Some teachers utilize a lottery system in which student names are randomly selected, and write anywhere from 10 to 45 recommendations. Other teachers select students they believe they can write the strongest recommendations for and write around 10 to 12.
Many teachers who write higher volumes of recommendations issue questionnaires to supplement the letters of recommendation. Others operate solely based on observations of behavior in class, so students should ensure that they request recommendations from the teachers who know them best.
One common myth is that “more is better.” In reality, having more than the recommended number of recommendations can clutter your application and potentially introduce conflicting narratives. It’s best to stick with the teachers who know you best.
Seniors’ best pieces of advice
Applying to college is stressful, and it is easy to lose direction during the process and feel unsure of the next steps. For this spread, Tiger has collected a series of tips and advice that helped some of this year’s seniors through the college application process.
Seniors’ advice to upcoming college applicants is to find schools that fit the individual rather than trying to mold oneself to match a specific school. They stressed the need to understand what kind of school one is looking for without weighing in big names as a factor and emphasized the importance of research. Applying to college is a process of self-exploration, and it is vital for students to understand themselves before they try to have colleges understand them.
Tying into that, some seniors recommend ignoring all content on social media claiming to hold college admissions secrets.
“If you are on social media and someone is asking you to put something in the comments so they’ll send you something, do not do that. Don’t listen to them,” senior Sarah Kano said. “They’ll tell you something that’ll make you sound like every other applicant ever. They’re not helpful; it’s just bait. Don’t get hooked.”
“So many of the posts about college online — on Reddit, on TikTok, on Instagram, on YouTube — are all toxic. They’re fearmongering, and they don’t do you any good. Ignore those,” senior Elleina Caine added.
Seniors offered other tools in place of social media for information gathering. FastWeb, recommended by senior Audrey Berkobien, is a site you can use to find scholarships starting in junior year. Caine recommended keeping a journal as a sophomore or junior as writing practice.
Timing is another key factor in the application process. Seniors stressed the importance of staying proactive on essay writing and starting early, but not too early.
“I’d say summer before senior year is a good time to start brainstorming, thinking about what you might write about … That’s when a lot of people I know started, and they had a really smooth college [application] experience and first semester senior year,” Berkobien said. “Don’t start any earlier than the summer … You need that time to develop who you are.”
Senior Mason Asakura stressed a similar reflection process.
“The biggest advice I have for incoming seniors is to reflect on yourself during the summer– in my opinion, your thoughts and ways of thinking are much stronger than how well written your prose is … some of my favorite essays stemmed from random outbursts of the mundane, like movies I’ve watched, my childhood shoes … Spotify playlists, and Pokemon cards,” Asakura wrote. “Reflecting on my four years of high school, I wish I hadn’t put so much emphasis on doing things that are impressive or would look good on a resume. All the activities that I thought would be impressive ended up either at the bottom of my activities list or not on there at all!.”
Kano added her advice that students tour college campuses, when possible, of schools they have researched and are interested in.
“I think going to colleges, if you can, really, really helps,” Kano said. “For me, there were schools that, on paper and online, I thought that I would enjoy, but the second I was on the campus, I was like ‘I would not be happy here.’”
“Pretty early on in the application process, you should start putting all of your classes and grades into the Common App,” Kano added. “It is so tedious; it takes literally forever, and so when you’re procrastinating on your essays, you can be putting your grades in, and you’re still getting stuff done.”
Everyone has a different application process and experience, and it is important for every prospective applicant to take the time to find what works for them.
“Relax. It’s gonna be okay. Take care of yourself, because that’s the most important part,” Berkobien said.
To-do list
