Why are colleges sending me so many letters?

Once a person has taken the PSAT, ACT or SAT, colleges begin sending out informational letters to get students to visit their websites and campuses. They are hoping that when you do decide to apply to college that you will remember their school. It is not necessary to respond to any of the information you are being sent. You can click unsubscribe to get them to leave you alone if you want.

Since you are a Junior, I do have some advice.
Begin taking your college exams your junior year of high school because you want to be finished taking them by September of your Senior year. An ACT score of a 27 can make you eligible to earn a half-tuition merit scholarship. An ACT score of 33 can make you eligible to earn a full-tuition merit scholarship. Never take either the ACT or SAT more than 3 times. After the third attempt they begin to average your scores. Some ivy league schools and certain degrees can require SAT subject tests. Math SAT subject tests are popular for schools that offer business and engineering degrees. Some schools require face to face interviews too.

Start college visits by your junior year. By the end of your Junior year arrange to do an internship in the degree field that you are planning to apply to at the university. Internships of 40 hours or more impress the admittance counselors. Even if your internship proves to you that you no longer want to get a degree in that field, it will still look good on your applications and give you something to talk about on your essays. You can speak to your high school counselor about places to ask for an internship in the field you want to study and as well as for a recommendation. My daughters had to find their own internships and the school backed them up. They started looking for them in March of their Junior years.

You must choose a college major for your college application. Scholarships are usually handed out based on your field of study. Undecided is a bad choice! Remember that most college students change their major 2 or 3 times before earning their undergraduate degree.

Complete your college applications between August 1st and October 1st of your senior year so that you are considered for merit-based scholarships. Due date is actually November 1st but the people you will be asking recommendations from may get swamped if you ask too late. If you set the goal of October 1st as your latest date, you give yourself breathing room if they do not write the recommendation that you want written...then you can find someone else. My older daughter completed hers before the end of September and was not stressed at all, but my middle daughter put hers off until mid October, which is also mid-term time. She was completely stressed out and so was I when she finally turned them in on October 27th, because we were unsure if all of her recommendations would get turned in on time.

Between January 1st and March 1st of your senior year, you and your parents will need to go to the FAFSA website, get a pin, and complete a FAFSA application. This puts you in the running for financial need based scholarships/grants/loans. If you do not fill out the FAFSA you are not eligible for this funding. Federal Tax information is required for FAFSA. https://fafsa.ed.gov/

Good Luck with you writing future!

Don't go to any sites that ask you to answer questions - they are fishing sites and all of the emails are SPAM. If your email address is listed on your blog, then that is why.

When you write the PSAT, it also asks you what universities you may be interested in. If you entered anything there, then they will send you information.

Colleges are competing for customers (students) just like a business. Doesn't cost to take their quizzes, except you will be contacted even further.