College applications, a tedious assignment, have kept seniors busy these past months. As seniors decide to prepare for early applications—which range from as early as October 10 to as late as December 1—they have begun to draft and finalize their college essays and academic resumes. Early applications, such as early decision and early action, are when seniors apply to colleges earlier than normal applications are due, possibly increasing their chances of getting admitted.
College essays are considered a very significant part of college applications as it sets a student apart from others by expressing their personality. Along with their college essay, seniors have to complete supplements, fill out biographical information, apply for scholarships, and even retake the SAT or ACT. However, as the deadlines for college applications approach, seniors are overwhelmed by the endless amount of schoolwork.
In the pursuit of an impressive transcript, many seniors take Advance Placement (AP) courses during senior year and try to juggle these courses while crafting a unique and eye-catching essay, as well as supplements about themselves. However, teachers, unknowingly, tend to add more assignments on top of the amount of work students already have. The stress from everyday schoolwork along with the stress of application deadlines proves to be challenging for seniors.
“Classes that teach multiple grades, such as electives, can be very stressful since teachers don’t realize that some of their students are applying to colleges and have a lot going on outside of school,” said Swathi Srinivasan ‘24. “It is nicer that, as seniors, our work ethic has improved and we have more experience dealing with stressful situations.”
With an everlasting to-do list, Srinivasan and other seniors agree that they find it hard to allocate time towards their future endeavors. Hence, most seniors only have time to complete their college resume in their spare time, devoting more attention to homework. Although some of these assignments are comparatively straightforward, these extra tasks also require a significant amount of time.
“Supplementals take a long time and sometimes it is difficult to do school work and college applications when taking difficult courses,” says Niranjana Ali ‘24.
Even though managing applications and schoolwork is deemed challenging, some students approach balancing their assignments by looking at applications in a unique perspective.
For example, Diti Bompally ‘24 explains, “I don’t think it’s difficult, but I think it’s time-consuming. I think of it as a whole extracurricular, like how I dedicate my time to school, dancing, and singing.”
But why do seniors land in such a stressful scenario? Ideally, students are expected to consistently devote a few hours to their applications every day during the summer, reducing the work needed to do once school and extracurriculars start. If seniors work on their applications using a consistent timeline, they should be capable of completing their applications around October or November, at the latest.
However, many seniors seem to disregard this suggested timeline, not spending enough time on their college applications in the summer before senior year. Since going to classes at school takes out a huge chunk of time in these packed schedules, many pull all-nighters to cram and complete their college apps.
The accomplishments that seniors discuss in their college applications are also impacted by this final application cram. For example, seniors miss crucial lessons that their teachers or coaches explain if they skip school, hindering their performance and the achievements that they can discuss in their applications.
“My grades are acceptable quality and I do my college essay in my spare time,” Parth Gundani ‘24 stated.
The quality of the applications themselves are also crippled by this Herculean task. The narrow window of time given to seniors for them to complete their applications results in rushed, subpar work, such as the mistake of forgetting to attach a certain letter of recommendation.
Furthermore, several colleges have extensive essay requirements, such as Princeton which requires its applicants to write eight essays. With college admissions rates dropping every year as fewer people are admitted, many students apply to a number of schools to ensure they have a college to go to. However, seniors may attempt to complete all of their college applications within a few short weeks, limiting the scope of the colleges that they have a chance of being admitted into due to the lower quality of their rushed applications alongside the lower amount of applications that they can complete within this short span of time.
Students at EHS have proven to go past their limits as they sacrifice school attendance, sleep, and meals for college admissions. Fortunately, the work ends up paying off as many seniors are accepted into their dream schools, allowing them to craft a successful career. Although such perseverance is rewarded in the end, the question lies in whether students have enough time to complete their college apps or if procrastination hinders their “normal” lifestyle.
