For many students, senior year is what they look forward to in their entire high school career. It is a time for fun and rest. It is the last chance to take advantage of one’s youth before starting college away from home or beginning a new chapter in their life. It is a time for students to enjoy their youth before jumping into adulthood, and savor their last moments at Austin High.
However, what isn’t showcased is the amount of stress and work senior students must undergo during their senior year. For many, the first months of senior year are not about savoring their youth, but worrying about their future. Students must craft essays, create resumes, organize teaching recommendations, and maintain extracurriculars day and night to fulfill the application requirements of the several schools they choose to apply to. As college applications continue to come out, students must work tirelessly to get them done and remain appealing to their dream school.
Most students apply to college using the common application, which was designed to make applying to college easier and lighten the load. The common application includes the submission of a high school transcript, test scores, and resume. The personal statement is also part of the application, in which the student has the opportunity to share more about themselves and their interest in the school. However, some colleges do not require this, focusing on test scores and extracurricular parts of the application instead.
On top of the common application requirements, most colleges include their own short answer prompts to better get to know students, and some include separate supplemental essays. These schools require hours of extra effort to apply to, and when applying to a long list of schools, this can add up.
Additionally, some schools have completely separate applications and are not on the common application at all. For example, Georgetown University requires a unique application dedicated only to the school in order to attract students who are truly interested in it. Not only does Georgetown University require an intense application process, but also disregards superscoring, rather taking into account every SAT the student has taken. Applications to schools such as Georgetown add pressure and stress to students during the application process.
Many schools are experiencing an influx of “stealth applications,” in which students apply to a large number of schools, even if they have minimal interest in that school. Individual applications can play a role in weeding out these types of applicants. For this reason, colleges also take demonstrated interest in account of acceptances, looking at students who take tours of campuses, visit the website, and even open emails from the colleges.
The University of California schools also have a unique application process, viewing admissions in a different way than other parts of the country. Instead of requiring long essay prompts, the UC application instead uses a series of short answer questions, getting to know the student in different areas of interest. Additionally, these schools do not take into account letters of recommendation or standardized test scores, claiming these aspects of an application as “outdated.”
Overall, applying to college is a stressful process for all students, and students should choose what schools they want to apply to by a culmination of stress, interest, and opportunity factors.
