Senior Year Just Started… College Already?

As crazy as it may seem, deadlines for college applications are rapidly approaching. Many seniors planning to apply to these schools are working diligently to gather all the necessary paperwork and write their required essays. Anxious to see the outcome, students are balancing their schoolwork with this tremendous task every day.

Some deadlines for applications are just around the corner, such as the popular November 1st submission date. This early application leaves students with two options: Early Decision and Early Action. ED is a binding agreement between a college and student that if they get in, they have to go! A lot of students tend to avoid this method just because there is practically no way out.

EA is the most practical and popular method of application. Whatever schools do accept EA applications usually are more likely to admit them. It is just a regular application submitted earlier in the year. Hills West senior Maya Kleinberg said that she was applying to 5 schools in Early Action. And the same can be said for the majority of other seniors.

And while these aren’t due for a bit, Regular Decision is still an option that is weighing on the seniors. These applications won’t be due until around January, but students should still get a jump start on them now.

Another part of applying to college includes standardized testing scores. As the process evolved, SAT subject tests were eliminated, and SAT essays were removed from the exam. Many schools have also become test-optional, leaving students to choose whether or not to send their SAT or ACT scores. Sydney Seid mentioned that she was planning on sending her scores to schools in which she was in the middle 50% range. Other students have chosen not to send them at all, and some are sending them to all of their schools of choice.

Covid-19 has also played a factor in the ability of students to take tests. Throughout the height of the pandemic, many testing locations canceled their exams as a safety precaution. This has added pressure on students who had initially signed up for these exams because they were forced to find new places to take them. Covid also led to many SAT or acted classes being online overall, adding to the already stressful time for these students.

Although their senior year just started, many of our seniors are hard at work, preparing for their future. They are beginning to make decisions that will hopefully start them on the right path to success once they graduate from high school.