By Serena Andria

Let’s face it: preparing yourself for college is stressful! No matter who you are, applying yourself to your academics, extracurricular activities, and/or sports to ensure that acceptance letter is demanding.

Luckily, Tempe Preparatory Academy has a secret weapon: Mrs. Moffitt. Unlike most college counselors, Mrs. Moffitt makes sure you go above and beyond in what’s needed to achieve what you want for your future.

During an interview, Mrs. Moffit was asked what makes a student stand out in the thousands of other applicants. She replied that colleges tend to want “students who are going to do well academically and be involved in their campus because then that student will be involved in their college campus.” So, if you haven’t already, get more involved with your school!

Surprisingly enough, doing a program at a particular school does not help you achieve that acceptance letter from that school. Colleges tend to look for any experience you have in the field you’re interested in, wherever that may be. Mrs. Moffitt gives an example saying, “if you wanted to go into the sciences, you could take advantage of research and lab opportunities at the ASU campus and that would be beneficial for your resume when applying to science programs at other colleges.” This helps students who may not have the ability to just jet set off to California or New York. As long as you’re getting experience in a field, that’s good enough for a college.

The advice does not stop there though, Mrs. Moffit also suggested that even if you don’t participate in a lot of activities, excelling in the ones you do has a huge impact. A college would rather a student who excels in the three or four activities they do than barely participate in ten.

Schedule a meeting with Mrs. Moffitt to better your future.