Early action and early decision are both beneficial ways to get into a desired school; however, early decision is binding. This means that if a prospective student gets admitted to the school they applied for with an early decision, they must attend that school along with withdrawing all other applications. Early action is merely a way to demonstrate interest towards particular schools without an actual commitment.
The Common Application is an online platform allowing undergraduate students to apply to a wide network of colleges and universities using one singular application. Our high school counselors encourage students to fill out their CommonApp information as soon as possible in order to keep up with the intense pacing involved in college applications.
Amidst this difficult season, students tend to have great amounts of anxiety. Things including second-guessing and stress can stem from the application process. Ultimately, college applications are a competition: not just between peers, but against students across the globe, each striving to prove themselves as the best fit for their chosen schools.
Other factors may be prevalent in student stress levels as well: parental expectations, standardized test scores, crafting perfect essays, securing letters of recommendation, financial aid, and finding a balance between working on college applications versus social, work, and personal life. In particular, some students wish that they had started working on their applications sooner.
“Everybody tells you this – start early. Have realistic goals with what you want to do and make sure you are well prepared,” said Sid Gaikwad (12).
“I feel like people put a lot of pressure on other people to start in July. I didn’t start applying until October,” said Teagan Acevedo (12).
It seems that in today’s generation, high school upperclassmen are so fixated with assembling the perfect application, which ends up amounting to a high degree of stress in their lives. Despite this stress, planning for college should be exciting rather than anxiety inducing. It is the transition from being a high school student to gaining a greater sense of independence at a college campus.
“I’m looking forward to [the transition]… but my stress level is very high. I have ten days until my first deadline and I feel very behind,” said Gaikwad.
“I’m super excited about getting out of high school… I need something new,” said Acevedo.
When asked to rate her stress level from one to ten with ten being extremely stressed, she provided a fairly high amount.
“9. I keep telling myself I’m going to work on my applications. All I can think about is ‘I need to get this done, I need to get this done,’” said Acevedo.
Creating a supportive environment where students can feel comfortable to ask for any help they may need is so important for the success of college applications. Our school’s programs, counselors, and teachers are wonderful sources to receive that extra boost that our seniors need to keep pushing themselves towards their future.
