Seniors Finalize College Applications

After several months of hard work, seniors planning to go to a four year college after high school have mostly finished with their applications. UC colleges in California require four personal insight questions to be answered, as well as an application they have to fill out. Other colleges require essays or other types of written work. For many seniors, this is a very stressful time, as all of their schooling has led up to college, and they are anxious about getting into the college they want. Although many seniors have a specific college they wish to get accepted into, depending on the student, seniors typically apply to anywhere between 2 and 15 schools, although the College Board recommends applying to 5-8 colleges.

Many seniors, like Nate Weast, applied to several schools, including in and out of state schools. According to Weast, he applied to “many different CSU’s, USC’s, and Oregon State.” When asked when he started his application process, Weast recalls, “I started really early, I finished all my essays before school started just so I didn’t have the stress of dealing with the essays and school.” The application for UC’s doesn’t open until August 1, but the insight questions required are typically the same each year, and you only need to answer four of the eight questions given. However others, like Noah Fishkin, started late on the process, and have to balance school, college applications, family responsibilities, or in some cases, sports or a job. Fishkin remarks sarcastically, “I did not start early, and I was doing everything last minute, so, it’s been fun.” For juniors, the personal insight questions can be started now to gain a platform for the questions they may receive, or to build on for other writing they may need to do to avoid stress next year when they need it.

Still, some students, although they start early, struggle to write the required work, and feel overwhelmed and alone in their writing process. Brooklyn Longueira said, “You’re kinda working on your own.” However, Longueira has a suggestion. She wishes PVHS would “get essay teachers…have students be able to individually hire them, cause that’s what I did, except I did it outside the school, through a different company.” Having these specific resources on campus would allow students to have one on one help, and could teach students how to write better college essays or other writings, versus more of the research and analysis essays that are currently taught. Knowing how to write a good essay that colleges wish to see could elevate a student’s chances of getting into the college of their choice.

Although there are many good colleges to go to, depending on a student’s interests, one college may be better suited for a student than another. For Longueira, she mentions, “I really want to go to San Diego State…[for] business…I want to be a real estate agent.” However, not all students know quite what is the best fit for them. All colleges have both pros and cons, and the choice of college can change the way a student’s life grows. As James Sealey explains, “I want to be a major in Jazz Studies because I really like music, but choosing which college is kinda stressful…I applied to Sac State and Chico State, and my life is currently at a stress level of maximum as to which college to go to…and which one to spend four years of your life at.”

While choosing is indeed stressful, there is always the question of whether or not a senior gets into a college. The deadline to apply to UC schools is November 30, but already, depending on the college, seniors already have found out whether they have been accepted into the college of their choice or not. Fishkin states, “Some, like Oregon State, were Early Application, so you apply and then you’ve got your decision within like two weeks…but not for CSU’s or USC’s, it’ll take a lot longer.” For University of California or California State University schools, applicants find out the results of their applications in the beginning of May. The schools who do Early Acceptance are typically out of state schools and private schools.

Despite the fact that they still might have to finalize some applications, apply for scholarships, and finish their senior year, all of PVHS’s seniors have all done a great job, and good luck to them all!