The weather is starting to get colder and Thanksgiving is almost here, which means that college application deadlines are right around the corner for Seniors! After talking with some of Glen Rock’s own Seniors about their college applications I have gotten lots of great tips and information for rising seniors. I spoke with Sofia Fusco and Maria Barbosa who both had similar experiences with their applications. Sofia described the application process as “annoying, unnecessary, strenuous, and expensive”, similarly Maria described it as “stressful, anxiety-ridden, and pricey.” 

An aspect of their experience that differed was how they were supported by the school in this process. Sofia felt that she wasn’t given any support due to the lack of knowledge on her major, theater. Maria had a different experience, she had lots of support and advice throughout the process! The school supported her greatly, especially her guidance counselor. The support she was given during the process made it a little easier for her. Her counselor helped her by doing a lot of research. This was very helpful since she is an international student so this process is very new to her. Both of them found that the most difficult part of this process was managing the portals and websites that are used for submitting applications. 

While the two shared some similarities in the application process, part of their experiences differed due to the two applying for different majors. Maria applied to colleges for psychology, with her top choice being the University of Tampa. She wanted to try living in Florida as well as living away from home to become more independent. Cost was also a reason why Maria chose Tampa. Maria’s major didn’t affect her application process, psychology is a common major so she has a wide variety of schools to apply for, and there aren’t really any extra requirements needed for psychology majors. 

Sofia had a different experience when it came to what was needed to submit in her applications. Sofia applied to schools as a theater major so she had to film numerous prescreens for the theater programs she was applying for. Having applied to about twenty colleges, this made the process especially difficult. Sofia doesn’t have a top choice in regards to schools because she applied to so many that it would be difficult to rank them all, but Montclair State is very appealing to her. The theater program, the environment, and having family members that went to this school inspired her interest in it. When asked what her opinion was on early decision Sofia felt that as long as you have a strong desire to go to the school and are financially capable to go it is a good option to have since it can increase your chance of being accepted. While the college application process can be incredibly daunting for rising seniors, it is important to remember that throughout the year they will have so many exciting activities to look forward to that will make their senior year great! One exciting event coming up is Wednesday the 23rd where seniors will get to be student-teachers for the day.

Some tips that these seniors had for rising seniors are:

• If you have a good GPA and extracurriculars you shouldn’t feel obligated to take the SATs and submit your scores, but if you do have a lower GPA getting a good score on the SATs could greatly improve your resume for college applications
• Do your own work, don’t just rely on the school and your guidance counselor to help you
• Start preparing for applications early so that the process isn’t as stressful later on
• Don’t only listen to information from other people, do your own research and do what is best for you
• Start brainstorming ideas for your essay NOW
• Look at your supplementals before your school year starts to see if there are any extra essays that you need to write