A tired senior fills out the Common App questions. Photo courtesy of senior Aidan Field.
San Luis Obispo High School seniors already know that applying to colleges and scholarships is a complicated and technical process. The decisions made will define students’ lives for the next four years and possibly even their entire adult lives.
This daunting process is made easier through SLOHS’ Senior Parent Night this Wednesday, September 17, at 5:30 p.m.
“The objective [of Senior Parent Night] is to provide information for parents and students about the college application process, the whole picture of what senior year is, as far as all the activities at the end of the year,” said college and career counselor Colleen Martin.
Senior year is a stressful time for students, with schoolwork, college applications, and senior year activities all on seniors’ minds.
“I got a lot [of college applications] done this summer, which helped, but with school work, it’s a lot. I have to be able to balance the amount of homework I have to do and slowly but surely getting those done,” said senior Ruby Latta.
The college application process and overall competitiveness has changed over the years, causing an increase in the number of applications each student submits.
“In the last few years kids are applying to a lot more schools. It used to be five to seven schools, and I’m hearing kids applying to ten to fifteen,” said Martin.
Students should only apply to schools that they would be willing to go to, but students are applying to many more to ensure their spot at a good school. This means that not only students have to put in more work to fill out these extra applications, but counselors.
“Students are applying on the Common App, which also requires a letter of recommendation, which isn’t required for UCs or CSUs…It is a lot more work for both applicant and counselor,” said Martin.
College applications aren’t something students can do on their own, they require collaboration between students, parents, and counselors.
“All the information is kind of hard to collect… the tedious stuff that’s not necessarily hard but you have to [fill out anyway],” said Latta.
While most students are in the midst of this long process, some students are already done.
“I applied to Montana State University which is where I’m headed! All of their academic programs are really good, especially environmental science and studies which I’m interested in. Bozeman is also exactly the kind of place I want to live, the town itself is super nice and it’s very close to the mountains,” said senior Ava Rhodes.
Students are applying to more and more schools, but for some, choosing and committing early is the better option. This is made possible through rolling admissions in which schools like Montana State University, Michigan State University, and Pennsylvania State University send out acceptances as applications come in instead of having set deadlines and decision dates. Typically students learn about their application status four to eight weeks after applying; Rhodes got her acceptance letter only two days after applying.
There are so many different things seniors can and have to do to get into certain schools. Scholarships and financial aid is another ordeal that seniors are going to go through. There’s so much to learn, and remember seniors and senior parents, come to SLOHS Senior Parent Night on Wednesday, September 17, at 5:30 in the theatre.
Source: blog.prepscholar.com
