As the curtain falls on 2024, thus marks the end of college application season. A senior myself, I can attest to the hectic nature of this period and await with bated breath the day it’s over. For students across the country, it is a time filled with electric anticipation and monotonous paperwork.
If I never see another common application logo again, I’ll be grateful.
Kiran Cerwonka, a senior at Ida B. Wells High School, committed to the University of Akron, Ohio, for Division One lacrosse last fall. “Recruiting was hard and stressful during sophomore and beginning of junior year, but now that it’s done I’m mostly relieved and excited,” she said.
The day after I submitted my supplemental application to Chapman University, I realized I had mislabeled one of my documents and submitted my Dodge Film School personal statement twice, neglecting a major requirement document. Unfortunately, this did nothing to soothe any anxieties, rational or irrational, about forgetting to submit important documents.
I also found some discrepancies between information between school websites and the common app site, such as California State University: Northridge. After stressing about the upcoming December 2nd application deadline advertised on the CSU website, I discovered it was actually Jan. 31. Although it was a relief, that could have been nuclear.
When applying to an art major, students often have to submit portfolios. This can complicate things, as anyone who’s tried to upload significant amounts of PDFs to a single portal can corroborate. Or, anyone who’s just tried to import a Google Doc. I applied to two schools where this was the case, and feel no rush to repeat that experience any time soon.
Arlo Austin, a senior at IBW, is applying to California State University: Chico, The State University of New York: New Paltz, The State University of New York: Purchase, Chapman University, Hofstra University, Mt. Holyoke College and Sarah Lawrence College. They are looking to pursue theater and music, and encountered the stressful situation of, “doing my portfolio on the day that it was due,” they said.
Can I just be the first one to say, same?
No demographic can or will push the boundaries of deadline culture better than high school students. To any juniors or sophomores looking for application advice, the best I can give is to do everything as early as you can, because it will ease your stress, and no one can ever trust technology enough to be sure everything will go according to plan. Leave room for problems, issues and forgetfulness. Human error needs a margin.
“During a lot of the applications, there would be new information that would pop up that wasn’t previously explained. It made it really stressful and hard when you thought you were close to being finished and then realized that you had to do a lot more work,” said Katie Douglas, a senior at IBW. Douglas is applying to Chapman University, University of California: Los Angeles, University of Southern California, California State University: Northridge, and Southern Oregon University to study film and television production. She’s also applying to the MetFilm School and Westminster School in London, UK.
She said she is feeling okay, but, “it was very stressful to get the applications in on time.”
Stress is no stranger to the applying senior, both during and after the fact.
“[I’m feeling] okay, but [I’m] kind of spiraling and freaking out, since my early decision is coming out in less than two weeks. While I know that everything I’ve ever done isn’t measured up in where I go to college, it just really feels that way [right now], especially since my ‘dream’ college has been my dream for basically all my cognizant existence,” said Vedika Sheth, a senior at IBW. Sheth is applying to eight schools including Lewis and Clark College, University of California: Los Angeles, University of California: Berkeley and Oregon State University. She’s hoping to major in computer science, finance or math.
“It’s stressful to work on the essays and apply for scholarships. A stressful time is doing four separate applications because not every school uses [the] common app and trying to write different essays and answer a lot of different questions,” said Brooke Swanson, a senior at IBW. She plans to study Business Management and is applying to the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Northern Arizona University, University of California: Santa Barbara, California Polytechnic University: San Luis Obispo and San Diego State University. Swanson is feeling “excited, but nervous,” as I’m sure many of us seniors awaiting college decisions are.
The period of anticipation heralded in by the closure of application deadlines is, arguably, a greater evil than the applications themselves. I’m currently waiting on five of my seven colleges, and the wait is excruciating. However, scholarship applications can always keep us busy while we wait. Yay.
The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and CSS (College Scholarship Service)profiles are the two federal systems for financial aid, which respectively and undoubtedly named by one of the more creative employees of the Department of Education. These two forms are exceptionally important, as nowadays, close to no one can pay for college entirely on their own.
During the 2023-2024 school year, the average price of college landed at around $41,540 for private universities. Public schools vary from state to state, with the highest tuition costing $17,600 in Vermont and the lowest costing $4,450 in Florida. In Oregon, we averaged $16,151 a year for tuition alone, not taking into account fees. I don’t know about my readers, but I don’t have that kind of cheddar lying around.
Simone Taylor, a senior at IBW, said the most stressful part of the process was paying for college. “Ultimately, [I] made my decision based off of money.” She plans to study apparel design and has committed to Oregon State University. Congratulations Simone!
“The schools I applied to kept emailing me saying they hadn’t received my financial aid information, and I had to resubmit all of the forms after the deadline to apply. Luckily they accepted the forms,I think,” said Josselyn Trombly, a senior at IBW. Trombly has applied to Barnard College, Northeastern University, Fordham University, Loyola University Chicago, Columbia University and University of Oregon, hoping to study biochemistry.“[I’m] so nervous, but also so excited,” said Trombly. “It was really stressful to apply.”
Whether or not we reap the benefits of this tenuous time, the struggle has come to an end. It’s important to remember that no matter the outcome, we seniors should be proud of everything we’ve braved to get to this point: COVID during seventh and eighth grade, a teacher strike during junior year, in addition to an ice storm, and the Short n’ Sweet Tour. It’s been a wild ride, and it’s been an honor, Ida B. Wells.
