As college decisions begin to arrive for the senior class, it marks the end of the process. It is an almost two year adventure that begins with college visits junior year, and ends with letters or emails in the next few days. For those who are unaware of what it takes to get into college, The Providential is offering this view into the world of college applications.
It all starts with a college visit. This can be exciting and overwhelming at the same time. For people who have never been on a college campus before, it is much different than high school. Numerous college visits your junior year lead to excitement and sometimes cases of “junioritis”. This exciting time comes to an end though on August 1st.
August 1st is the day when the Common App launches. The application used for most colleges in the United States opens up every year on August 1st, allowing students to send in one application for all of the colleges they’ve been visiting. The sights of beautiful campuses and school spirit are quickly overtaken by supplemental essays and deadlines. While the Common App is great compared to the individual handwritten applications our parents had to deal with, it is no walk in the park.
The college essay is the main obstacle of the Common App. Students spend months trying to come up with an idea that can set them apart from all the other applicants out there. When an idea finally comes, it may take weeks to get your thoughts into a well written essay.
There are four different types of applications and each school offers different variaties of them. The Regular Decision option is the most common and is offered by every school. The deadline for the application tends to be around January, with a decision in April or March. The Early Action option makes you apply earlier, but you also find out earlier, so relieves much stress from the wait for the Regular Decision letters. Colleges that offer EA usually have a deadline around November 1st, and let you know before Christmas. Early Decision is the option for students who know where they want to go. It works like Early Action, but if you are accepted you must go to that school. Rolling Decision is the least stressful. You can apply any time within a set window, and they usually get back to you within a month (many state schools like Rutgers and PennState offer this).
Once all the apps are submitted the wait begins. The months between the time you submit your apps and the time you get a decision can be very stressful. Some schools post decisions online or by email, while others choose the painful route of letting the U.S. Postal Service deliver the decision.
Despite the stress involved, it will all be worth it once the decisions come in. The only thing more exciting than first visiting a college is going back to that college knowing they want you.