At this point in the school year, many seniors have gotten college acceptance letters back and now must decide where they want to go to school for the next four years. This is easy for some but difficult for others.

Senior Kennedy Meglic found the application and acceptance process fairly easy because she applied to essay-optional schools and was accepted into her top choice.

“If I was declined from either school, that definitely would’ve been a challenge, but I am very grateful to not have to deal with that,” she said.

She also started thinking about colleges during sophomore year, which helped her make an informed decision.

Another senior, Lauren Kelly, found thinking about colleges to be stressful but was eager to decide where to go. Like Meglic, Kelly found the application process to be pretty easy because she used Scoir and CommonApp. Kelly found choosing colleges to be one of the more difficult parts of the process due to it being a huge part of her life for the next four years.

“After choosing a school and enrolling, I feel like the heavy stresser was gone and only excitement was there,” she said.

Although some seniors find the application process easy, some may find it more difficult. It all depends on what schools they apply to and what the schools require. Senior Emily Peipher found the application process to be long and tiring due to the effort it took to fill out so many applications and write so many essays. Peipher started thinking about college around junior year and started seriously considering options the summer before senior year.

Like Kelly, Peipher also found choosing a college to go to be stressful because it decides someone’s future for four years, especially because she had a variety of options. However, Peipher found that discussing options with counselors and family members helped narrow down the options.

“These discussions were helpful, but it also took some self reflection and understanding of my future goals,” said Peipher.

She also found the rejection and acceptance process to be less hurtful than she was prepared for it to be. Because Peipher applied to so many schools, she had enough options that she wasn’t too stressed out by rejections.