By Samantha Ferisin
With the looming November deadlines for early admission, this year’s senior class seemed to be suffering from a case of mass hysteria, according to sources in the guidance department.
“Six percent of students have visited Naviance over 80 times. Nineteen percent have visited over 50 times, and one student visited over 200 times,” said guidance counselor. Ms. Emily Coleman. Counselors are able to check to see how often students view their account on Naviance, the online system for college applications.
Although Naviance is only used as a college search tool and does not contain the actual applications, many students check the updates of their recommendation letters, transcripts, and test scores on an almost daily basis.
“I think it helps keep me organized, honestly. It gives me peace of mind knowing I can see all the stuff I need is in and on Naviance,” said senior Emily Hanlon.
The second most common website used is Common App which allows students to fill out a general application and essay and send it to the schools of their choice. Deadlines for schools range from October 15th through November 15th for early action and early decision schools and December 1st through January 15th for regular decision applications.
But early action and early decision applications have become increasingly common.
“Seventy three percent of seniors have a November 1st deadline,” said Coleman. “This year’s grade is very ambitious and competitive.”
But senior Julia Weber feels differently. “The faster I apply and get my acceptance letters back, the sooner I will be able to have the comfort of knowing where I am going and I can slack off.”
Is this year’s senior class really too competitive or just savvy? The conventional wisdom is that early action applications bring benefits such as first choice of merit scholarships and more spots that they need to fill in their programs. The process becomes stressful, many say, because every student wants the best chance of getting in when it comes to college.
“I want to have good chances of getting in, and having this done makes it easier to focus on school work,” said Hanlon.
