As the final year of high school commences, one thing looms over seniors’ heads: college applications. Fall is one of the most stressful times for seniors. Between writing the essays that will determine the next two to four years of their lives, playing sports, and balancing academics, it gets overwhelming.
Many seniors say that the key to surviving senior year is organization and planning to reduce stress and stay on top of their workload.
“I think I’ve been balancing things quite well. I have a planner with every single deadline of anything I’m doing and every commitment I make,” senior Gemma Caruso said. “I do block out a couple of hours on the weekend to read or do something fun, so then I’m not just completely working all the time.”
Starting early can also help students stay on track. Senior Anthony Trieu said that writing the essays takes more time than he thought and wished he had written his personal statement a lot sooner, since the “writing portions just take a long time to make it really polished.”
Senior Aleta Stubblefield agreed that prioritization plays a huge role, especially as a student athlete. “I’ve definitely sacrificed some sleep to get everything turned in on time, and still have time to see friends and play soccer,” she said. “But I think it is worthwhile since I’m working for something in the future.”
Students also describe the intensity of juggling schoolwork and college applications. Kai Macdonald said, “It’s definitely been crazy and there’s been a lot of late nights.”
Stubblefield said that the application process also surprised her by being more personal than she had anticipated. “I thought that a lot of it was about finding the exact right thing to say or having this perfect strategy, but really it’s easier when you just approach it as, ‘I want to tell these people about my life and about the experiences I’ve had.’”
Beyond the logistics, seniors often reflect on what the application process reveals about themselves. Caruso said, “When you have to sit down and be like, ‘here is me presenting myself to you,’ this person I don’t know, you have to really think about who you are and what you want to do with that.” For her, the college application process was as much about self-discovery as it was about preparing for the next stage of her life.
Stubblefield also said the process made her reflect on what she’s done and what she wishes she’d done differently. “I wish that I had done more stuff outside of school, like going to volunteer or doing fun things,” she said. “I think that if I’d known how important it is to get outside life experiences besides just what you do in school, I would have tried to find more experiences like that, both for myself and for college applications.”
In the end, many seniors find that the process, while stressful, becomes a rare chance to slow down and reflect. Between essays, activities, and deadlines, they’re not only planning for the future, they’re discovering who they’ve become along the way.
