The College Application Process

Hadeel Antar Editor-in-chief

The one thing that every senior looks forward to– college. Whether close, far, Ivy League, or community college, a large majority of seniors are ready to leave high school and enter a new environment. However, applying and getting into college is not only a difficult decision but a difficult process as well. As a high-achieving student, I aimed high. I applied to multiple colleges and universities, 12 in total, across the nation, ranging from state colleges to universities in the Ivy League.

The college application process begins before the school year even starts. The Common Application, an application that allows students to apply to multiple undergraduate colleges in one place, opened on Aug. 1, 2023. This means that students have the ability to view what each college they hope to apply

Bleached Black

Mohammad Rammal Staff Writer

to requires and the prompts for the multiple supplemental essays that would need to be written. At this time, I started drafting my personal essay. This essay centers around “what you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores” (Common Application). The personal essay holds great importance, as it’s one of the only opportunities students have to show admissions counselors you–not your academic abilities, but you. To take full advantage of this chance, you must start writing early to give yourself time to review, edit, and fix anything.

Afterward, I started researching the colleges I desired to attend to make a final choice on applying for early or regular admission. Early action allows you to hear back from colleges earlier, although the due date for your application is earlier. However, depending on your academic standpoint and your character, you might want to or not want to apply early action. I decided on applying early to one university, as the other schools I applied to were much more competitive. CLARIFY. Then comes the writing. Although not all, most colleges, especially high-ranked schools, required one or more supplemental essays. These are questions or prompts provided by certain schools and vary across the board. I got questions such as “List the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school” from Columbia, “You are teaching a new Yale course. What’s it called?” from Yale, and “Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests?” from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. I had a total of 38 essays to write, excluding my personal statement. This took time. Throughout the first semester of senior year, my nights were long, consisting of writing and reviewing previously written paragraphs.

No matter the outcome, it’s important to remember that your college commitment decision doesn’t reflect who you are as a person. Whether you end up at the college of your dreams or not, you will end up right where you need to be and it’s crucial to understand that. If you worked incredibly hard in high school and didn’t get into a high-ranked college, it’s okay– your efforts did not go to waste. It created a hard-working student that could achieve anything they set their mind to.

“Was it a mosquito again?” I consider the possibility just as I tuck myself properly in bed. In that instant, I didn’t feel the warmth of any covering apart from my thick, fuzzy shirt. I open one of my eyes gently only to catch the break of day in my iris. “6 A.M. already?” I uttered as my energy levels leaped from the shock. This was just one of my many confrontations with the sun in our frustrating relationship, but did I have a choice?

For all my life, I was socially inept. Asking for help, let alone approaching someone was a chore. If I were to succeed, what then? How would I maintain the conversation? What about the one after that? And the next? In synergy, my mind and body would come to a complete halt. I barred any opportunity for help and relied on my abilities for my own sake. I found great comfort in my self-sufficiency and to say I felt invincible is an understatement. That, however, I couldn’t prove to anyone but my teachers. When the doors to middle school opened, there was a heightened emphasis on group work. My social anxiety prompted me to work alone. Combining that with my fixation on earning perfect marks, my self-proclaimed “self-sufficiency” was put to the test. With a laptop, notebook, and pens in my arsenal, I swept through each task effortlessly. “Done, done, and done,” I said as I reviewed my work with pride. To my dismay, however, I couldn’t preserve the momentum I had hoped to maintain.

Then came high school, and as the years stacked on top of the last, so did the intensity of the labor. I persevered, but perseverance wasn’t enough. Time and time again, I found myself in a staredown with my laptop and an endurance contest with my alarm clock and it was the sun that would greet me first at the start of a new day. While its lustrous aura was often seen as something reassuring, I saw something sinister. It served as a grave reminder of my inability to keep pace and progress socially. Dwelling on it, I realized it was taking a mental and physical toll on me but without self-actualization and initiative, that revelation was in vain.

So, what did I do? I just pushed myself and accepted the inevitable, as simple as that. I befriended people on a whim and though I was reluctant at first, I grew fond of having company and conversing with others on even the most random of things. Some of these friendships never evolved past greetings; however, I developed others that were much more sophisticated and personal. I rose above my social anxiety and from then on my studylife balance improved immensely. I accepted the help of others and returned their generosity when they needed it and I became a happier and healthier person overall.

No longer was I being taunted by the handicaps I placed on myself. The only regret I have was not acting sooner, but like all regrets, they fade into obscurity in the presence of newer and blissful memories.