By Emma Byard, Staff Writer
It’s Oct. 31, one of the most exciting nights of the year: Halloween. Students are eager to get home and head out for the night, but this year, for most seniors, college applications stand in the way. The majority of early applications are due Nov. 1, which is going to put a halt to most people’s Halloween festivities.
I think most seniors could attest to the fact that there is not enough time in the day to accomplish what is needed to prepare for college. Between AP and honors classes, being involved in extracurriculars and studying for the SAT, completing applications is a thought that is clouded in the back of most people’s minds.
Applying to college starts with The Common Application, where students fill in all of their personal information, brag about their accomplishments, attain letters of recommendation, answer short-response questions – and the worst part – write a personal essay.
This essay is one of the most important parts that admission offices put into consideration when they are reviewing your application. First of all, deciding the subject takes a lot of thought. After this is determined, the essay is expected to be checked by multiple people, which could take a lot of time.
Sure, one may have a free period, but one-on-one opportunities to discuss the application process during classes are unavailable since the time in those classes is already so limited with large curriculums. So, working on college essays where a teacher is readily available is not really an option.
That leaves us seniors having to manage our own schedule to complete applications. For those of us who are busy after school, you know that making time for this is nearly impossible.
After returning home from a tiring day of school and extracurriculars, the only thing you want to do is go to bed. The only issue is the deadline is slowly creeping up on you, and you know it.
Luckily, we have amazing counselors and a college adviser who can answer all of our questions. Personally, I would be unable to manage the stress that college applications engender without them.
For those of you who are applying regular decision, consider yourselves lucky: You can have an enjoyable Halloween instead of scrambling to put together the pieces of your college applications.
Senior Emma Byard can be reached at byardem0329@daretolearn.org.
