As the school year starts off, the senior class of NASH is burdened with the stress of choosing their college and career paths. The first deadline of November 1st is slowly approaching and with it will come many acceptances and rejections along with the task of committing to colleges. However, for now, with months until then, students are just trying to figure out if they are on the right track when it comes to the college application process. 

Many seniors are currently in the process of writing essays, taking the SAT and ACT, and just getting their applications filled out.

“I am finishing up writing my essays and preparing to submit applications soon,” said Rebekah Rest.

Others are done with their basic requirements and are left filling out the lengthy application forms. 

“I’m currently in the process of applying to colleges, because I have finished all of my testing and essays.” said Ashley Zheng. 

When it comes to applying to schools, seniors like Rest and Zheng are actually considerably far. On an even further note, though, a few students have already applied to the schools they want to go to, and others are just waiting for the click of a few buttons to send in applications.

“I’m done with all my essays, just waiting for transcripts to come out,” Madeleine Bloomquist said. “And then I’ll send them all in.” 

And then there are the students who have barely made a dent in applying — which is not necessarily a bad thing. Rather than burden themselves with the thought of higher education, some students, at least for the time being, are choosing to just focus on their high school academics.

“I’ve been doing my school work and focusing on this year,” Dana Groff said. “I plan to go to community college after this year, so I’m not too worried about getting in applications and such. I haven’t even taken the SAT yet.”

So the real question is where seniors should really be right now, and the Counseling Office is a reliable source of answers.

“Seniors should currently be thinking about the list of schools they’d like to apply to,” NASH counselor Mrs. Buettner said. “They should look into each school’s requirements and deadlines and plan accordingly.” 

Buettner’s added that she was impressed by students who are ahead of the game and have already finished their applications.  However, she expressed that a common senior misconception is that they must quickly finalize their applications in the beginning of the school year. She wants seniors to be aware that the deadline is approaching but also wants to stress that it’s perfectly fine to take your time and focus on one thing at a time. 

“Right now, students should just be looking into scheduling testing, if they haven’t already taken them,” Buettner said, “along with writing common app essays, and deciding on teachers they would like to receive recommendation letters from.”

The school counselors will be visiting senior English classrooms the week of September 9th to go over the general procedures of applying to colleges through the Common App and Coalition App. For any senior still confused about whether they are on the right track in the process, the counselors encourage them to ask any and all questions they may have. 

After all, for the Class of 2020, it is their own future that they will be deciding.