Crunch Time: The College Application Process

Crunch+Time%3A+The+College+Application+Process

His hands were tired. The bags under his eyes began to sag. He gazed into the dim glow of his laptop. The time on his clock read 12:17.

If this scene looks like one in your own life, it is because college application time is upon the Class of 2014. Students are beginning to meet with guidance counselors, gather letters of recommendation, and complete essays. Most students applying now are using the early action method, giving them a better opportunity for grants and scholarships.

For advice on how to handle this stressful time, the Devils’ Advocate sought the wisdom of guidance counselor Mrs. Nadine Ryan.

“Most student should take advantage of the early action option when applying to certain schools to avoid stress and last minute decisions,” she said.

Letters of recommendation are a big part of the application process. Any student wishing to be accepted to a school must have at least two letters in order to have a shot to be considered by the admissions. Mrs. Ryan said best way to go about with gathering letters of recommendation is to allow adequate time for teachers to write a well written letter.

Junior and senior teachers are not immune to this stressful time, as many current and former students come to them for these letters.

“The biggest dilemma with writing letters of recommendations for students is the fact that they are very time consuming,” said Mr. David Barbagallo, a psychology teacher.  He also told us that on average, each year he receives requests from around 20 to 25 students asking for letters. It is very rare for him to turn down a student.

Senior Mike Seligman, who has already applied to five schools, has been frustrated by the experience.

“The most frustrating thing about the whole application process was that just about every single school requires an application fee,” he said. Although the Common Application is designed to reduce the amount of fees and papers, Seligman was only able to use it for one school.

Senior Kelsey Peterson rated her experience of the process as a 7 out of 10 on stress. Peterson also has had difficulties with the Common Application and shares Seligman’s distaste for the application feees. She has already received 2 letters of recommendation and is working on her third.

Most seniors hope that all this work pays off with an acceptance letter from their top choice school.