College Applications Are Stressful – But They Don’t Have To Be

If you thought you heard a sigh of relief last Friday, it was the sound of over a hundred thousand California teenagers breathing again, after their applications to the University of California (9 campuses) and the California State University (23 campuses) systems were submitted.

The pent-up stress could finally be released:  the deadline for applications to all campuses at both the UC and CSU was last Friday at midnight, and USC’s deadline was Saturday.  And most students waited until the very last day to submit them.

But why?

We hear about the college application process being stressful, but in reality, it’s a linear process.  There are some turns and deviations along the way, but in general, students need to think about their academic interests, explore colleges that might be a good fit for them, make lists, possibly visit some campuses, make decisions, decide where to apply, and look at the application requirements. 

But what most students discover along the way is that while exploring colleges is fun, applying to college is not.  Applying to college involves putting information from their transcripts into online applications (boring), answering basic questions about their parents’ education (boring), filling in their address and social security number several times (boring), sending test scores (boring) and writing some essays (scary, daunting, challenging, but only stressful if you wait until the last minute!)

Now, I glossed over the “explore colleges” part as a simple step, but it’s not simple at all.  While you may think you know, and your student may think s/he knows the colleges in which s/he is interested, there are 2,200 four-year colleges in the United States, and over a thousand more two-year colleges.  A thorough college search should include exploring colleges you may never have heard of – but which could be a great fit for your student.  This is just one reason that some parents hire independent college counselors.  Another is that sometimes teens and their parents don't necessarily communicate well at this stage, and bringing in someone whom the teen doesn't automatically tune out can help.

This is also why most independent college counselors, including myself, prefer to start working with students in the 10th or 11th grade.  If you call me in September (or even worse, October) of your senior year, we have just a few months to explore colleges and get those applications submitted.  If we start working in 10th or 11th grade, I can help students build their extra-curricular activities and leadership and explore their academic interests, which will help guide the college search.  While some parents are concerned that hiring a college counselor in 10th or 11th grade will add to the college stress, in fact, it can actually reduce it, by spreading the effort out over a longer period of time.  The student is likely to have time for a more thorough college search, prep for standardized tests if necessary, and complete the “searching” soon enough to start the “applying” part with time to spare.