By Julia Norton –
Applying to college is a pretty basic concept, right? Not always. There are many complications and frustrations to filling out college applications.
High school seniors are starting to stress over completing their many applications with deadlines approaching more and more quickly.
Tatiana Houser, Penn Manor senior, finds a few things about applying to colleges especially inconvenient.
“Making sure the information actually gets to the college, ridiculous application prices and each school having a different application deadline are the most frustrating things I’ve experienced,” said Houser.
Letters of recommendation are one of the most difficult things to acquire. Teachers are constantly being asked to write letters for students and trying to get teachers to complete them on time can be practically impossible.
Guidance counselors are there to guide you and help you out with deciding what you want to do and what colleges you may want to apply to. Students think they do a good job of that.
“The guidance counselors were helpful with the questions I had about applying and with sending my transcript,” said senior Alex Lombardo.
While students are finding the applications frustrating, school guidance counselor James Yearsley thinks they should focus more on the financial aspect of college.
“From a parent’s perspective, students think parents are responsible for all the costs. Most parents do pick up some of the slack, but kids should really be thinking about what they’ll have to pay back later,” said Yearsley. “They think that student loans will just pay themselves off.”
Yearsley also stressed, “visit schools before you apply! Something that seems as trivial as a dirty cafeteria can totally turn you off from a school.”
These complications are only a few of the many things that students applying to colleges must deal with.