I’ll never forget the time when I was a junior in ACS and thought that applying to college was easy…. Just write a couple of essays, obtain a decent score on the SAT, send everything on time, and you are good, right? Well, as a senior, all I can tell you is that is the biggest joke I have ever told myself. Here is what applying to colleges actually feels like:
-You spend at least 2 months studying for the SAT: Yes, 2 months seem like a short amount of time, however, these will be the most dreadful 2 months of your entire lifetime. You will have to study day and night for this test and live off of caffeine and Redbull to survive…Many times, you’ll find yourself crying in the middle of the night, really hoping that you would have studied more so the SAT would be a little easier for you.
-Once you have taken the SAT, you will spend endless nights writing your personal common app essay. Writing your personal essay is extremely hard because it is your only chance to actually impress college admissions and give a clear idea of who you are, giving insight to your personality, goals, and purpose in life. Once you have finally finished your first draft for this essay, you will encounter Ms. van Strien, who will probably laugh at your work and say that it is terrible, and that you should probably start the whole process over again.
-Once you have finished your common app personal essay, you will be staying at home (not going out and partying. Colleges require an awful lot of extra supplemental essays and questions that require a time investment and commitment. You will be spending your weekends depressed in your house, writing supplemental essays, and really hoping that you turn in everything before the deadline.
-You will probably end up at Ms. Caro’s office at least once to cry your eyes out and have a mini breakdown, telling her how stressed you are and how this whole process sucks.
-Once you have submitted all of your applications, you will feel proud of yourself. You will feel proud of the fact that you survived this horrible and traumatizingly stressful process. Now, you will be anxiously checking your email box every single day, waiting for a college response.
-Finally, the day has come: your application decision is ready. You open the email, filled with optimism, and read the first sentence: “Dear Matisse, on behalf of the university decision committee, I want to inform you that we have decided to reject your application. We are sorry to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission to the class of 2024. Thank you for applying.”
Ouch.
