College Applications: Stages all seniors experience
If this doesn’t capture the essence of senior year in a nutshell, I don’t know what will.
College. As a freshman, it seems like nothing but a distant dream showered by rainbows and unicorns. Come sophomore year, students began to think more and more of what’s to come, terrorized by the horror stories of the anxiety-filled period that is Junior year. Junior year: commence the APUSH stained tears and never-ending college trips, informational meetings, and ACT/SAT prep classes. Finally, you’re a s~e~n~i~o~r! With the expectation of a High School Musical 3 experience for the last year at the Academy, Seniors are sadly hit with a stone-cold reality starting on the first day. The thought of five, eight, or even twelve college applications (in some cases) looms over the Senior lounge like a dark cloud.
Here are the different stages of College Applications all seniors will experience at some point in time:
August
The ‘Excited for what is to come’ stage
![](https://i.giphy.com/3oEdvaX2HUvk7Lf7jO.gif)
The ‘Reality check’ stage
![](https://i.giphy.com/LP63VC4esGSuQ.gif)
“College apps won’t do themselves,” they said. “Senior year will be easy,” they said.
September
The ‘how?’ stage
![](https://i.giphy.com/rE54ATTvweuvm.gif)
“How do I even begin to keep track of all the logins, passwords, scholarship applications, transcript request forms, recommendation letters, and interviews?”
The ‘Drowning in paperwork’ stage
![Credit: @insulting on Twitter](https://www.achonaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-04-at-10.16.29-AM-475x305.png)
October
The ‘I give up, I’m just not getting into college’ stage
![Credit: sleeepymami.tumblr.com](https://www.achonaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-04-at-10.16.10-AM-475x327.png)
The ‘Still here. Still drowning in a sea paperwork’ stage
![Credit: @wab4msu via Twitter](https://www.achonaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-04-at-11.36.38-AM-475x273.png)
The ‘Oh no! The deadline is next week!’ stage
![](https://i.giphy.com/4ytUZzb1pRPBS.gif)
The ‘I can finally breathe again, I just submitted my last application’ stage
![](https://i.giphy.com/3oEdv0SfHFraYjPTkQ.gif)
November
The never-ending ‘Waiting’ stage
![Credit: @alyx117 via Twitter](https://www.achonaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-04-at-10.15.46-AM.png)
December
The ‘Day before the Decision comes out’ stage
![Credit: @austinkeller via Twitter](https://www.achonaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Screen-Shot-2015-12-04-at-11.04.03-AM-475x296.png)
The ‘Moment before you read the decision’ stage
![](https://media.giphy.com/media/xDoNbo6EFD3JS/giphy.gif)
The ‘YAYYYY! I’m going to college!’ victory dance
![](https://i.giphy.com/l41lUiz8IlkSj91m0.gif)
The ‘Relieved and Thankful’ Stage
![](https://i.giphy.com/hDLrS6Z0oO33a.gif)
“I did it!”