Google Data

The leaves are starting to change color, which means a few things are on their way: cooler weather, football season, and (for high school seniors) college applications. While I’m excited to start my senior year at UC Davis, after spending my summer interning at Google I realize my college application process would have been a lot easier if I’d used Google’s tools. Hindsight being 20/20, I’d like to share a few tips with those of you entering the application process this fall.

First, do your research. Starting today, Google is sponsoring a year of free access to the US News and World Report college rankings for anyone who registers before September 16. Visit the rankings to learn more about some of the country’s best colleges. We’re especially jazzed that sixty-one of this year’s top 100 schools are using Google Apps for Education and you can see some of the awesome things students at these 61 schools are doing -- on and off campus -- with Google Apps.



Second, stay organized. Once you have a good idea of which schools you want to apply to, here are some ways Google tools can help you stay on top of your essays, deadlines and other college communications:

Docs:

• Put all the colleges of interest in a Google spreadsheet. To track your progress, include relevant due dates and tasks to complete for each school.
  
• Write your admissions essays in a Google doc, which makes it easy for you to share and get feedback from peers and family members.
  
• Access these documents from any computer at any time, whether it’s at school, home or on a college visit.
  

Gmail:

• Now is a good time to make sure you have a professional-sounding personal email address. You may be interacting with college recruiters or alumni interviewers this fall, so if you’ve been using “[email protected]” since elementary school, consider creating a new Gmail account.
  
• Use labels to automatically sort and color-code all incoming messages from colleges.
  
• Quickly find important emails with Gmail’s powerful search capabilities.
  

Calendar:

• Create color-coded calendars for each university and its various deadlines. Overlaying the calendars will make it easy to visualize what needs to be done when.
  
• Create a tasks list that can be sorted by importance or date.
  
• Enable email or text message reminders for the important events.
  

This fall, Google can help you stay on track as you navigate the college admissions process. Finding the school of your dreams? Easy. Getting in? That’s another story.

Posted by Nikhil Sheel, BOLD intern