Project two revised: Admissions

Caitlin Manweller

Mrs. Tetterton

English Compostion: Final portfolio

15 December 2010

Applying to college can be a stressful time for all upcoming students. With long hours spent filling out questions, writing essays, sending transcripts, as well as focusing on the pressures of your senior year of high school, filling out college applications is probably the last activity you want to spend your time doing. Luckily, applying to East Carolina University (ECU), is much less painful than one would expect.

The admissions process at East Carolina University begins with an application. Once the decision has been made to go to ECU, you will need to fill out this application and send it in, along with your high school transcripts. In order to apply, you can go to a college-based search website (such as www.cfnc.org, or www.collegeboard.com), and find the college you wish to apply to, or you can go straight to the ECU website at www.ecu.edu. Once you are on the ECU webpage, you can click on the Future Students tab in the upper left corner. When you are directed to the next page, you will then click on the Undergraduate Admissions link, and it will direct you to another page, where you will create your “Pirate Port” account. Once you have completed this step, you will then fill out your application to ECU. You will be required to fill out a series of personal questions relating to you, and your parents, as well as send in your SAT or ACT scores, and high school transcripts.

Once you have sent in your application, you can monitor it by checking in with your “Pirate Port” account. With this feature you can check on your application status, as well as check to see what the college has received. Once your application status reveals that a decision on your application has been made, you should expect a letter from the University in the mail shortly. Once you receive this letter, if you have been accepted, the college will also send you notices, brochures, updates, etc., to let you get a feel for what your experience at ECU will be like. You will also receive your ECU and Banner Identification, which you will need to memorize because you will need to know it in the future. Your Banner Identification will also come with instructions to set up your ECU email account, which will be mandatory once school starts.

One preparation you can make before entering college is to find ways to finance your tuition. If you will have problems coming up with the money required to keep you enrolled, you can apply for many different scholarships, grants, or loans. To do this you must complete your FAFSA, which is a free application for federally funded student aid, and will help you seek out the monetary opportunities related to you. On the chance you do not get in to ECU, you will probably need to fill out multiple applications to different colleges. This will better insure your acceptance into a college of your choice.

East Carolina University is heavily populated, yet full of diversity, and wonderful opportunities to make your life the best it can be. It is an exceptional school, and will help you form lifelong friendships, and to reach the goals you aspire to. Once you are here, you will experience the closeness, and the fierce school spirit that goes along with this school, and you will no doubt be glad you applied to this college. I hope to see you all next year as pirates!