The Insanity of the College Application Process - Julie Gross

The Insanity of the College Application Process

By Julie Gross

Senior year is the busiest year for high school students. I personally did not believe everyone when they told me I would be busy. I mean sure, I have been pretty busy before, but now I am overwhelmed. The most overwhelming tasks of senior year so far are the college applications and scholarship essays. I can literally only do about two hours of the application process without pulling out my hair, snapping at my mom, or just putting my head on the table repeating, “I can’t.”

Each college just has to have my information, my parent’s information, every class I have taken since preschool and my family history dating back to the 1800’s. I am exaggerating a bit, but after seven applications and one to go I have had enough of filling out the same information over and over again. The information part of the applications is not even the worst part. The worst part is the essays for the applications, honors college applications, and scholarships.

The regular application essays are usually all the same and something along the lines of, “Why would you be a good fit and what unique qualities would you bring to this school?” I basically use the same essay over and over for this question, changing the name to the right college, but the scholarship essays get worse. “Picasso once said that art is a lie that makes us see the truth at least a truth that is given to us to understand. Do you believe art is a lie? What kinds of truth will art make us realize?” My first reaction to this question was, “What??!” After staring at a computer screen for two hours, the words jumbled together. I might have been able to understand it if I actually had the time, but wait, I have projects, assignments, and tests in my high school classes that I have to pass before I can go to college! Grrrr.

Here is my advice to underclassmen: write down all your activities, how much time you spend on them, your parents’ education level, and your favorable traits that would make a college want to have you attend their school. And be prepared to write. If you want any sort of scholarships practice writing, learn correct grammar rules; basically just eat, breathe, and sleep writing. Good luck all you future seniors. You are going to need it.