All the blood, sweat, and tears boils down to this very moment. With parents gathered around, finger above the enter key, you press the button to your future. This is the stressful season of college applications. 

College applications are divided into three categories: Early Decision, Early Action, and Regular Decision. Early Decision requires an earlier deadline for the application to be finished and once it is submitted, a commitment is made that if you were to be accepted you would attend this institution.

Early Action on the other hand does not come with this kind of commitment but still requires an earlier deadline for the application to be submitted, showing the college your interest in their school.

Finally, Regular Decision is the typical date students pick to submit the application which is the final submission date for applications. For Josh Bour, a senior at Bishop Gorman High School, he was able to finish all of his applications by the end of summer, allowing him to apply Early Action to all of his schools. “This is what all of my hard work has led to so I wanted to make sure I had enough time to finish and make it as close to perfect as it can get,” he says.

For Josh and other seniors, the effort needed to finish the application was surprisingly more than expected. When asked about the amount of writing needed in the application, Josh laughs “I thought it was just going to be my college essay but man was I wrong.” Supplementals are short answer questions that have a maximum word limit of typically 300-350 words. These supplemental questions are unique to the college as they try to discover more information about the type of person and student the applicant is. These should be devoted a decent amount of time because the rest of the application is simply numbers. 

However, the entire application comes with a sort of complexity. As Lokelani Francis, another senior at Bishop Gorman says “I feel like they wanted me to just brag about myself.” The applicant is supposed to persuade throughout their essays, supplements, and activities and awards that the college would be misled in not accepting them. Therefore, in the application a previously taught sense of humility is not encouraged. 

The application process is undoubtedly one of the most stressful experiences a student has and it is imperative that the process is not rushed as they explain the complexities of their academic high school career. Although it might be difficult, considering the competition is global, it is essential to make yourself stand out in your writings, extracurriculars, and opportunities while still maintaining good grades. All your hard work just to lead up to that final click to your future. No pressure.