High school is one of the final steps before entering the adult-world. Once a student becomes a senior in high school, they must begin thinking about their future, including what college they want to go to. As a result, college applications are required to be considered for admission to the school. Many students fear the idea that they will be denied admission to their dream school, but in reality, as long as a student is prepared and engaged in focusing on their applications, there is no worry.

As the deadlines for applications are nearing, students should think about a school to go to, consider what type of school it is (UC, private school, Ivy League, public, etc.), tuition costs, what the school has to offer for majors, and what are some requirements the student should meet.

As for applications, several exist such as the Common Application, UC applications, and Cal State applications. Within those applications, lie a series of questions that mainly revolve around getting to know the student. In addition, some applications have scholarships that a student may apply for within itself. Though it doesn’t seem like much, it is recommended that a student begin the application process a couple of weeks earlier as the process takes a large amount of time.

RCHS senior Devon White gives some advice for completing the applications. “Don’t procrastinate and give your teachers a week to complete a letter of recommendation. Make sure to write essays that don’t put yourself to sleep,” said White.

To add on, there are more components that are required and or recommended while completing applications, such as academic awards, involvement in school, accomplishments, etc. The more that a student can compose and put into their application, the better it will look for a school.

RCHS senior Vincent Tang has a similar idea and also suggests which prompts to complete for the personal questions. “If you are writing about a challenge, do prompts 1,4,5, and 7 and make sure to get at least 300 words per essay as 350 words is the max, “ said Tang.

College applications are not going to be easy, as it requires not only a hefty amount of time, but tons of effort to put into the personal questions.

When asked about his experience with college applications, White said, “applications were very busy and stressful. Writing the essays will be a huge pain in itself.”

Tang also said that applications were, “very time consuming.”

When taking the advice into consideration, the college application process will become a lot less stressful and less overwhelming as the time is created in order to be able to complete the applications, and there will be a general idea of what to do. College applications are probably the most important thing to the future, so work hard and well on them, and they will become nothing to fear and instead, something to be proud of. Good luck Rancho!

College Application Deadlines:
Common Application deadline: January 1, 2021
UC application deadline: November 30, 2020
Cal State application priority deadline: December 4, 2020