It’s that time of year for seniors.  The word “that” referring to the college application process.

The month of November is directly in the middle of this difficult stage of the school year for most seniors.  The early action deadline has just passed, and the regular decision deadline for most schools will be approaching within the next couple of months, leaving college-bound seniors having completed the application process, being in the middle of it, or still searching for schools to apply to.

Although going to college is an exciting event to look forward to, there is no doubt that seniors in the midst of the application and admission process are under a great deal of stress.

Senior Julia Gannon feels that the most stressful part of the process for her is putting all of the parts together.  Gannon explained, “I didn’t realize how many steps you had to follow just to get to the point of sending the application.”

Along with actually sending the applications, there are a great amount of struggles that most seniors do not realize the will experience until they start filling out the application.  “I’m the oldest kid in my family,” said Gannon, “so my parents were going through this application process for the first time too, and it was hard on all of us.”

Although Gannon is past the application process for the majority of her schools, fellow classmate Erika Gavino describes her stage in applying to college as “all over the place.”  She is quite possibly in every stage at once, in fact.  Gavino has applied to schools, is awaiting to apply to others, and is still searching for more to apply to along with exploring a different major, a prime example of how sporadic the process is amongst seniors.

One struggle that many seniors face is procrastination.  Unfortunately, Gavino does have one regret about her preparation timing.  “I definitely wish that I started earlier because I’m very indecisive and I could’ve really used the extra time to explore my options more,” Gavino said.

Luckily, Gannon found her guidance counselor Mrs. O’Connor helpful and has helped to calm her nerves.  When asked about her experience with collaborating with her guidance counselor, Ganon said, “I was really nervous at the end of last year when Mrs. Dinatali said that she was leaving the high school,  just when I needed her the most.  But Mrs. O’Connor is amazing and has helped me not get as stressed through all of this craziness.  She actually recommended that I look into a school that is now my top choice.”