Written By: Delaney Cordes, Staff Writer
STRESS: Seniors are busy filling out applications and applying for college, the gateway to the real world and the future that is in store for them.
Senior year of high school is incredibly important, especially when it comes to solving what feels like the world’s biggest problem: one’s plans for after graduation. With AP classes, sports schedules, grade management, and everything in between, college applications are a daunting task added to the list. The college application process as a whole can be deceiving as the amount of information and pieces needed to complete is overwhelming. With grade inputs, personal information, teacher recommendations, essays, and more, it’s a lot. The more colleges that students decide to apply to, the more work will need to be done and essays need to be written for their arduous journey to finally be complete.
The college application process comes with some possibly unexpected extra stress. Poly senior, Nadia Lewis, mentioned the essays aren’t that difficult, but “it’s the deadlines that make it the worst.” Each college has a specific deadline that students need to meet for early decisions, early action, or regular decisions. The University of California (UC) schools open for regular applications on August 1 and close on December 2, whereas the California State (Cal States) schools open at the beginning of October and close at the end of November. That doesn’t even include the other CommonApp colleges or universities that are available for application – which are located in and outside of California – that each have their closing deadline date. This doesn’t give students a large amount of time to get everything needed done in time, while also balancing school and everything else happening in their lives.
Another major stress with college applications is the amount of money being spent just to submit them. College itself is incredibly expensive, but many forget that application submission fees are an additional part of the cost. Seniors have to consider whether or not applying is even worth it, taking into consideration that they have to pay just to get a chance to be considered. Emma Rice, another senior at Poly, brought up the “financial burden of it all.” Wanting multiple options for colleges also means money is needed to apply. Each application can range from $50 to potentially even $100, depending on the school. But, there are available scholarships and fee waivers for students who are in the qualifying categories.
College application essays are one of the most time-consuming elements of the application itself, with different prompts and/or questions for each college. The Cal States and UCs are some of the few schools that don’t require an essay or a lengthy writing piece, whereas the CommonApp colleges require an essay and a personal writing segment. Nic Baciuna (12) talked about how she is purposefully only applying to UCs “so she doesn’t have to write essays, just the personal insight questions.” These writing portions do provide some insight into the student and could potentially increase the chances of acceptance.
Besides just college applications being stressful and a lot to complete, it is an exciting time for seniors. Deciding what colleges and universities you want to apply to (if you are applying to college) or what you want to major in, and what the future holds, are all decisions that must be made during this daunting period. Each senior can dream and shoot for goals to reach new heights in what they want the next 4+ years to look like for them. Poly Spotlight is wishing you the best of luck, seniors!