I’m currently a rising senior at Princeton, but my younger family friends are going through the process and I hear a lot of complaints/remember the stress they feel.
I’m really curious what you all think is the most difficult process. The essays? Identifying a college?
I’m also willing to help out a couple people in my down time since I gained a lot from the CC community back in the day and want to give back. Willing to talk and figure out what are your needs and give some feedback on essays/persona/whatever. Feel free to message me.
Speaking for my daughter, she definitely found the essays the worst part of the process. One, she is shy and the thought of many strangers reading her writing really stressed her out. Two, she hated vague, open-ended or wishy-washy prompts. Questions such as “what empowers you?” and “why this college?” (in a hundred words or less,) were the worst. She got through it intact though:-)
I think for DS, it was that decisions he’d made in high school (about how hard to work and how involved to be with certain ECs, for example) when college really wasn’t something he was thinking about were now ones he regretted and that there was so little he could do about it. We’d talked about how high school shouldn’t be an extended admissions exercise for college but that there could be consequences if he didn’t really apply himself, so it was painful as this started to play out.
With that said, it all worked out fine in the end (with a senior year that was pedal to the metal throughout), and he takes personal responsibility for his work, so it was a great lesson learned – just really stressful!
Financial aid. Other than that, actually choosing colleges. I did a lot of Internet research and got interested in schools all over the country, but it didn’t seem like anyone in my real life (most importantly, my parents) had ever heard of any college more than 200 miles away. Everything was really hypothetical and I could never tell whether I actually liked a school or just its online representation.
@halcyonheather hit on another one. DS had an amazing CC at school who did a great job of helping him identify schools that were what he was looking for, but his problem came later. But when he got decisions, he was WL at his top two choices,. Everywhere else where he was accepted was a good choice, but none really called out to him like those top 2 had. So the decision-making process was really hard because each of the schools where he’d been accepted essentially fit his profile, and each had a couple of things that he especially liked, but none was really “it”. After a pretty tortured process (and revisits to 8 schools for accepted students day), he chose one. Less than a week later, both of his top 2 offered him a spot in their class. But making the decision was really hard. @Lindagaf knows!
This question is not too focused – e.g., “college admissions” is a pretty broad term, it’s not clear what you mean by it. Also, this site is visited by both parents and students, and you’d probably get different kinds of answers from each of those groups. But I’ll offer my $.02 – as a parent.
I’d say the most stressful thing is the whole financial situation – basically, that colleges are so expensive. For most people, that drives the entire college search process – deciding what schools to apply to, determining what schools you might be able to afford and how you’re going to pay for one of them, and what school the student eventually decides to attend. I feel bad that my kids could get into many very fine schools, but they’re not feasible because we can’t afford them. The financial situation is probably the most important consideration for us, and I believe that’s true for many families.
The other thing I find stressful – well, let’s just say that my son doesn’t do many of the things I tell him are important to put himself in a position to get some good college options :-).
I’m applying to colleges for Fall of 2017 the most stressful thing for me is finding what I like within how much my family can spend, without going to far, and having it be a school that there is some chance of me getting into.
I think for my daughter it was the non-stop talking about this in school, and the constant questioning that went on. For me, the most stressful part was realizing that our state schools were not right for her, and once you go out of state or attend an in-state private the price tag doubles or triples. We made a list of schools where she would get merit, and schools that meet need with two in school. She had a lot of success. Once all of her decisions and offers came back, the most stressful part was deciding between several excellent schools.
@elena3142 I feel for you. I am not sure if being not too far from home is a necessity, but if it isn’t, you will find you have a lot more options. Depending on where you live, especially if in a heavily populated area, there is a lot more competition for local schools. My D realized early on that in order to go to the kind of college she was after, she had to sacrifice geography. I have seen sooo many kids on this site say that they have to be no farther than three hours from home, when in fact, three hours is no time at all. If you can expand your range to “within a day’s drive” you will give yourself many more options. Think about it.
For my kids, the hardest part was waiting. We felt we did a good job choosing schools to apply to, they did a good job filling out the applications and then… it was out of our control. My S was deferred EA at his top choice so it was even more waiting than anticipated. But in the end, it all worked out.
For S15 and S16 I would have to say the most stressful part was the whirlwind of accepted student visits and deciding which college to commit to at the end of the process. There will always be “what ifs” with the colleges they didn’t choose.
When I got three straight rejections in mid-December while waiting for my then-top choice to come through.
Being shut out of an entire state - the thought just sucks sometimes. Occasionally I do think how things would have changed if I had gotten into at least one school in the state I was shut out from.
(Successfully) convincing my family to let me attend school nine hours away from home in a new city and state that I hadn't even yet visited in my life at the end of the process.
Just trying to make the schools my kids picked work. Financially mostly, but other logistics too. Worrying about getting the right forms in, looking for scholarships, figuring out how the money even works.
Trying to navigate meeting application deadlines in a timely manner while taking a heavy Senior course load was somewhat challenging for my son . Waiting for the results . I strongly suggest doing EA if possible . He had all of his notifications , except Honors notifications by Christmas.
The absolute more stressful moment? For my child, it was the few seconds before hitting the Submit button on her first application. The second had to be the few seconds before hitting “Application Decision Ready” (or whatever it says) on her first and only web portal notification (all other decisions came in the mail).
The most aggravating part of the process was probably me nagging her to get her essay read by someone (not me; I was deemed unqualified) for appropriateness and quality.
But we set up the process to be as streamlined and short as possible. She has a list by early August. We sent in test scores to all the schools at once in August. We requested the transcripts and GC LOR be sent to all the schools in September. Finally she submitted all but one application on October 15th. She received two acceptances by Thanksgiving, including one of her top three choices. That just freed up her entire senior year.
She took five, six AP.classes senior year but because she submitted her applications so early, her courseload was a non-issue.