As seniors work on all there is to prepare for colleges, admissions offices are curiously waiting for which applicants meet their criteria and expectations, turning the college process into survival of the fittest.
It is best noted by teachers and counselors that a college app should be treated just as any other app with honesty and complete clarity, the only difference of course is that this app may determine a student’s future for the next four years and reflect on the ongoing years to come in one’s career. Senior Kimia Zadegan is completely aware of how the college apps will serve her in the years to come.
“All of this will lead to the next era of my life, so I’m doing all of it willingly,” said Zadegan. “Most of the effort goes toward the actual process of applying — the applications themselves are pretty straightforward. The demanding part, for me, is going around and making sure I’m getting everything in on time and not messing anything up that can sacrifice a portion of my college application.”
Many students such as Zadegan find it crucial to keep college apps in mind throughout the whole semester. However, besides the college application process itself, students have been doing tasks which will give them an even higher chance of getting into colleges. Senior Kaustabh Bose finds it necessary to keep track of other things in the semester just as much as filling out college apps.
“Other than working on the common app for first semester, I’ve been doing SAT prep, maintaining my 1st semester grades, working on projects in my extracurricular activities,” said Bose. “I’ve also been going on college visits and setting up college interviews.” Being a well-rounded student is another note that many advisors in the school have made. Of course, seniors need to continue their efforts in school and activities as well as their efforts with college apps all at the same time.
The advantages of applying during the school year allow seniors a chance to bump up their gpa a little more, increase their SAT/ACT score, or even visit a new college which could become their top choice only 1 or 2 months before deadlines. Students such as seniors Rena Masterson and Alex Karimi are conflicted over which schools to apply to due to their sudden interest in new schools and their difficulty to narrow down the number of schools they would like to apply to.
“Just recently I found interest in UPENN and had made a decision to apply there for early decision,” Karimi said. “But it’s kind of hard to choose a college that you’d want to be tied down to, so I’m in the middle with that school and Harvard U.” Making a decision for what school someone wants to be tied down to is indeed a tough decision and is a crucial step to take in order to speed up the application process.
“At the end of the summer I was somewhat conflicted in which schools I should apply to but luckily I’ve narrowed down my list of colleges I’m applying to for early action,” Masterson said.
Whether it’s cramming in a higher profile, or physically working on making an app shine, McLean seniors have shown maximum effort and dedication in 1st semester thus far. However, their hard work will be reflected on the acceptance letters to come at the end of the semester and later in the year.
