Veterans of the College Application Process Offer Their Advice

Seniors in Midwood’s Mechatronics class take a ten second break from stressing over college applications to work on a project. Photo: Kevin Shi

By KEVIN SHI, KEVIN SHUST, TAMMY CHAN, and DOSTON KARIMOV

The LED light from your laptop shines on your weary face. You look at your phone and groan when you see that it’s already 2 a.m. You haven’t been able to comfortably sleep for a week because of the increasing stress from your college applications. Senior year can be tough. That’s why we spoke to a few veterans of the process to help see you through it.

One tip they gave is to start your college applications at the end of your junior year so you know what you want to do before your senior year starts.

Christopher Scutero applied to 18 different schools, including Drexel University, the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Binghamton. He said he was submitting one application per day starting from mid-September. 

Scutero said that Advanced Placement (AP) classes and grades aren’t the only factors in college applications and recommended to underclassmen that they get involved in extracurricular activities early. “Start doing some stuff now rather than later,” he said. “Having a diverse range of skills is important.”

And stay on top of deadlines. Know when they’re coming, months in advance. Angela Chen, who is enrolling at Baruch College, said that she procrastinated during the application process and applied through CUNYfirst at the last minute. While she put SUNY colleges on her FAFSA application, she forgot to put a CUNY college on it.

SUNY colleges are New York State colleges, and CUNY schools are in New York City. Both have many options, and offer discounts for in-state residents. Your FAFSA is your standard financial aid form. Staying organized with all these due dates and this paperwork will help you avoid panicky moments later on.

Katherine Zhong was accepted to Hunter College and Baruch but decided to attend the University at Buffalo. She recommended ScholarMatch, a nonprofit organization that tries to ensure college access for students.

 “I had a college coach from ScholarMatch, and she was amazing,” said Zhong. “She helped me with managing all my supplements, and we worked out a schedule through Google Sheets and organized the supplements by schools and due date.” 

“I was very frustrated and stressed out with the whole process,” Zhong added. “It was a struggle trying to manage everything, and with APs, it was hard, but when I started submitting the applications, I felt relieved and a sense of accomplishment.” 

Start looking at essay prompts and brainstorming ideas now. Students who applied to numerous colleges often had to write different essays for many of them. Elda Nesimi also had to write supplementary essays for various honors programs. She reached out to others to help revise her drafts and provide her with feedback. She said her best decision was to take a ten-day break from her essays when they became overwhelming, to “reboot” her mind.

Peter Wu found essays to be the hardest part of the college application process because of the challenge of writing something original that stands out from the rest. 

“I wanted to be able to write an essay that reflects the authentic me while also keeping it brief and not writing a repetitive essay,” Wu said. “I often struggled with that because I was also doing homework during the times while I was writing those essays.”

Wu used an online app called lifeat.io to organize what he had to do each day. 

“My tip is to just let the words flow out as you type the essay and not worry about the word count,” Wu said. “As I was applying to college, my emotions were like a roller coaster.”

It may seem obvious, but when researching your college, consider your career goals first, as well as what school setting will suit you best, students said. Ramona Sangster had her mind set on Cornell University.

“I love the environment, the location, and the programs and other opportunities they offer,” she said. “Cornell was the school in New York that would allow me to study animal science and be on a pre-veterinarian track.”

“Deciding on a major or career path is one of the best ways to prepare for the process,” said Mark Afanasyev, who will be attending Carnegie Mellon in the fall. “This decision will play a major role in what colleges you will apply to. Sort out your priorities so that you don't botch a process that has such major implications.”

Another part of your application is recommendation letters. Many colleges want to see who you are as a person. Reach out to teachers who you have built a connection with as early as possible. 

“A common misconception is that you have to get a recommendation from a teacher who fits the major you will choose in college,” said Anne Mai, who will be going to Johns Hopkins University. “You should get a recommendation from a person who knows you well, someone you had a connection with.”

Due to the conditions created by Covid-19, many colleges have become test-optional. This means that you can choose to submit your SAT scores only if you want to.

“If you are applying to highly selective schools and your SAT scores are below 1400, then do not send them to those schools,” recommended Ada Chen, who is going to the University of Pennsylvania.

When the majority of your application process is done, you can start preparing for college interviews, which some schools require.

“If they offer you an interview and it's optional, you must take it because it can make or break your application. It made my application,” said Enaya Ahmad, who will be a freshman at Harvard University. “Usually they ask ‘tell us about yourself,’ and then they ask specific questions regarding the extracurricular activities or research that you did.”

“During your interviews, you should focus on being yourself because the interviewees are not there to scrutinize you but to see who you are as a person,” said Daniel Nudelman, who is going to Macaulay Honors College.

Seniors also recommended you ask yourself why you want to go to your desired schools. What is so special about your dream school? Why does it suit you? These types of questions come up very often throughout the college application process and you must be prepared to answer them. Therefore, it’s crucial to do a lot of research on the schools you apply to.

If tuition costs are worrying you – and they should – remember that there are lots of scholarships out there. Dell, Burger King, and Questbridge are just a few to start with. The college office on the fourth floor can help you with that, and lots of other things as well.

“The college office helped me out tremendously, as I had no idea what to do,” said Sulman Mahmood, who will be attending Baruch College. “I was lost at first, and I reached out to them and they helped with everything.” 

Last but not least, don’t feel like you have to do what everyone else is telling you to do during your junior and senior years. “I wish I had taken more classes that I actually liked, as opposed to taking as many APs as I could for the convenience of college credits, and to please those whose opinions I valued,” Nesimi said. “If I had done so, I probably would have enjoyed my classes a lot more and would have never dimmed my love for learning.”

In the end, it might be in your best interest to find time for artistic extracurricular activities or internships, no matter how busy the application process becomes. Students need a “brainstorming interval,” Nesimi said. 

“There are times where it is going to be a real struggle to get by with just so much to do,” Wu said. “Just remember to breathe and take breaks if needed.”

“To future seniors, I’d tell them to enjoy their last year and not stress too much,” said Sangster. “Only do what you can handle, because everything will work out in the end.”