College Apps Season

As each September rolls around, it becomes college application season again. With each year, it seems like more and more pressure is put on students. With loads of schoolwork on top of college apps.

For current seniors, this time of the year can be an immensely stressful time. We all have so much to submit, so many letters and papers to collect, all by a deadline. At times, it feels almost impossible to do. 

Especially after the pandemic, the process is even more difficult. Many students never got the chance to retake their standardized tests, their ACT and SATs. Some even more unlucky ones, didn’t even get to take a single one. 

After months of quarantines, everything feels like it’s being condensed and packed in a time crunch. While many colleges are being lenient with the standardized testing process, most aren’t. There are a lot of colleges where you need these test scores to apply and some students can’t even take them. A lot of the standardized tests are cancelled last minute due to a covid outbreak or the spots fill up so fast that many students can’t find a testing center reasonably close enough to them to go to.

There are so many factors that go into the college application process. There are so many factors that go into things. What college you can get into with your grades and scores, what size school you want, do you want to be in a city or more suburban area, how far from home are you willing to go, what can you afford. These aren’t even all of the factors that come into play. The list goes on and on. Senior, Kelsi Smith described the college process as, “Incredibly stressful and time consuming.”

Luckily there are so many websites and online help that students can seek out for help with their applications. Not only online research, but also our guidance department here at HF is phenomenally helpful when it comes to the college application process- but it is up to students to reach out to them to ask questions, inquire more information, be interested, etc, to succeed.