THE NEXT STEP

Seniors are applying to college, awaiting results

by Deshna Vekatachalam design by Ananya Ramanujapuram

With early college deadlines approaching, students are rushing to finish their applications. These applications will decide the rest of their life after high school. Senior Siri Poludasu is one of the seniors getting ready to submit their applications.

“Right now, my top colleges are between New York University and Northwestern University,” Poludasu said.

With New York University ranked No. 2 in the nation for medical research and Northwestern ranked closely behind, Poludasu is hoping to get into one, if not two, of these colleges. She applied to both of these colleges through the Common App.

“It’s a really easy platform that helps you apply to all the colleges,” Poludasu said.

The Common App is one of the best tools a senior can use to apply for colleges Senior Natalie Cross explains more about the Common App.

“They have education parts, [information] about your family, recommendations and all these activities that you do,” Cross said.

Cross goes into detail about the essay and short answer questions.

“The topics you mainly talk about are what major you want to go into or why you chose the college for the little 100 words or less questions,” Cross said. “And then for your Common App, you can talk about basically anything.”

Cross applied for rolling admissions to Marshall University through the Common App and was accepted soon after.

“I was really excited. They told you once they downloaded it that you’ll know three to five days after. I was waiting on that email for so long, it felt like,” Cross said.

Cross explains that throughout the process of applications and the waiting, her coach helped her through it all.

“My coach, Mrs. Decker, helped me fill out the activities part. I do a lot of my community service with her as well,” Cross said.

While Cross had her coach help her through the process, Poludasu, on the other hand, had a friend help her through it.

“She has done a lot of stuff with her mom before I have. She usually tells me what I have to do, and then my parents help me with my essays and answering questions,” Poludasu said.

Cross explains what she’s looking forward to knowing that the process is over.

“I am most looking forward to gaining independence and being able to see where everyone else is deciding on going to college,” Cross said.

COLLEGE ROUND UP

BEST IN-STATE UNIVERSITIES

38% of seniors want to go out-of-state

62% of seniors want to stay in-state

Indiana University University of Notre Dame Purdue University

DePauw University Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

source: niche.com