Senior Portraits: Expensive Waste or Timeless Keepsake

Complex photo tradition examined

Every spring, many high school juniors set off to begin the process of scheduling their senior photos. For some, senior photos (sometimes called senior portraits) are nothing more than the photo that goes in the yearbook next to their ‘dot dot.’ However, especially in recent years, senior photos have become increasingly popular. It’s not uncommon that a photographer will be completely booked up within an hour of opening their scheduling to the public. But why are senior photos such a big deal?

Personally, I’ve been looking forward to my senior photoshoot since I was in middle school. Even before I got to high school, I was following the Instagram accounts of several different senior photographers that I had seen promoted by seniors from my school. Social media, Instagram in particular, is one of the most popular ways photographers advertise their services.

Maddie Newhouse ‘24 explains, “I just saw a lot of this year’s senior’s repost- ing other people so I just followed some people on Instagram and I picked the person that I thought looked the best.”

I’ve always seen senior photos as a way to capture the passions and personality of a high schooler on the verge of adulthood. Usually, senior photos are taken the summer before senior year, documenting a moment in a student’s life right before so much change is about to take place. For parents, these photos are a keepsake - one that can be placed in family photo albums and distributed to friends and distant family.

It is important to recognize that being able to hire a photographer to take your senior photos is a privilege that many students don’t have access to. Senior photos can be extremely pricey, packages often ranging anywhere from four hundred to over a thousand dollars. While ideally, everyone would be able to find a photographer that fits all of their needs while also fitting into their budget, the high costs make it so that this is often not the case. In my case, I decided that my senior photos were an investment and felt it was worth the price for photos I would love and can look back on.

Playing the Game of College Admissions: Can you Win?

Unique, passionate students have best chances

Steven Cao | Staff Writer

Ali Hecker | Student Life Editor College.

The thing that perhaps most high school students are worried about. Many students, especially upperclassmen, have taken many steps in order to set themselves up for the best chances to attend prestigious colleges, but how much can students really control their chances, especially with schools with a 10% or less acceptance rate?

During the selection process, colleges look at the applicants gradepoint-average. If they pass the GPA cutoff, the schools then look at the applicant’s extracurriculars and essay in order to decide if they are fit for the school. So, what are the things students can control to get into their dream colleges other than just grades? One thing that students can control right away is what round of admissions they choose to enter for a school. Most students typically choose between the early decision and regular decision rounds. The acceptance rate when applying early is quite higher than regular, which means that it is easier to get in if you apply for that round. How- ever, the drawback for applying early decision is that if you get accepted, you have to attend that school. This means that students who have a very particular school that they want to attend and meet or exceed the typical grades and extracurricular requirements may choose to apply early in order to have the best chance of attending that particular school. In addition to applying early decision, there are still many more ways to improve your chances during your school years.

College counselor

Jim Mahoney encourages high school students to find the passions they want to put their full effort into. He recommends, “For the first couple years of high school, [take] new classes and [be] open to new experiences as well as getting the most out of the relationships with friends and with teachers.”

Mahoney continues saying,

“Colleges look for students who can thrive within their community, one thing that [students] can control is pursuing areas of interest that actually interest them and finding rigor, depth, and challenge in the things they love.” There are tons of different applicants with the same stats in terms of grades and extracurriculars, it is key that students pursue their passions and create uniqueness compared to the other applicants, which would set you apart from other applicants with similar grades and such. However, you, the student cannot fully control who the colleges choose, and unfortunately rejection to favorite schools happen.