Inside the Senior College Application Journey

Hello, my name is Emma Hubley, and I am a high school senior at Braden River. I went into my senior year expecting to have the added stress of college applications because I had watched my friends from the previous graduating class go through it. However, I never expected how difficult it would actually be to have almost my whole future relying on the few months where due dates seem to just keep piling on. I feel that it is important to share what this process has been like for a variety of students at Braden River because I know some students who felt like it was a breeze and some others who struggled quite a bit. To properly show this, I interviewed four students with different aspirations to see their perspectives.

Mason B

Like many others at Braden River, Mason’s top college is the University of Florida, and he is planning to major in Biology. He felt that the application process was fairly straightforward, and he explained that he did not rely on his guidance counselor at all; he began his applications in August and had them all finished by mid-November. However, he felt like he always could have reached out to his counselor if he ever got confused, and they always offered help and resources should he need them. Now that Mason has completed all the necessities, he, along with the rest of the seniors, is awaiting the decision announcements as they begin to roll out.

Matthew B

Similar to Mason, Matthew’s college of choice is the University of Florida for Psychology. Matthew had a small bump in the application process where he did not quite understand how to fill out UCF’s SPARK form or SSAR at first, but because his older brother had done them before, he was able to figure it out with guidance from him as well as his counselor. The SSAR (Self-Reported Academic Record) is a platform where students self-report the courses and grades that they have taken part in during their high school careers to send to colleges. Similarly, the SPARK form allows those applying to specifically UCF to report this information. Although he began his applications later than most—in September— he has since completed the two most important ones to him. Matthew felt very supported by his counselor and often spoke with him about anything that confused him, and he explained how receiving guidance made him feel as if everything was much simpler. The only thing he regrets is not doing more extracurriculars because he is afraid that his inexperience in them will lower his chances of getting accepted into more competitive colleges, such as the University of Florida. Despite the heavily appreciated guidance of his counselor, he wishes that they provided more information on scholarships or where to find them because he feels like he only really knows about Bright Futures and the few ones they provided us with.

Andrew R

On the other hand, Andrew has struggled with this process due to the lack of communication and preparation his counselor gave him. He is hoping to study Game Design, and his top college is also The University of Florida; he has completed this application, as well as Ringling’s, but he does not believe his chances of getting in either are very high. From the very beginning, his application process was rough. He  did not even know that Common App existed until the day before the deadline for the University of Florida, so that process was very rushed for him, and he is now having to compile portfolios for every school. On top of this already stressful process, he is also struggling to make sure he is staying on top of his AP classes. So, filling out college applications for some students has been filling out some forms and clicking buttons here and there, for Andrew it has become a battle of adding more and more onto his overflowing plate. Throughout this process, his biggest struggle has been creating portfolios, which he explains is because every college wants to see different skill sets in his work. he is basically making a whole new portfolio for every college. Even though this was going to be a taxing process regardless, it has only been made worse for him because of the little action his counselor has taken to help him throughout it. He too wishes that they provided him with more information about scholarships.

Israel C

Israel is choosing a very different route from the others I interviewed; he chose to apply to MTC to become a firefighter. His application process was incredibly straightforward, seeing as he is already dual enrolled at MTC. He  simply redid what he had already done to apply as a dual enrollment student with very slight differences, which he had his friend walk him through. Because of this. he explained that he didn’t really need his counselor’s help at all, and since he is only applying to FAFSA and not any miscellaneous scholarships, he really doesn’t feel there was any real way for the Braden River staff to support him more.The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is a form that students are able to fill out to apply for financial aid to put towards their schooling.

Personally, my experience with college applications was 50/50. There were some times when I felt entirely on top of it, and there were other times when I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. For some background, I am going to be graduating with my associates degree from the State College of Florida because I began the accelerated full-time dual enrollment program in my junior year. But, doing this program meant that I no longer attended Braden River, with the exception of my extracurricular activities. This caused some difficulties, but it was nothing major. I knew that I had to complete Common App and the instructions to do so were fairly self-explanatory; it was what came after for each individual school where I began to face some issues: making teachers complete recommendation letters for me on top of their regular workload, checking to make sure my counselors were doing everything to keep up with the pace I was proceeding at, and ensuring that I completed my applications before the deadlines. As I am finishing the application process with the endless college profiles, FAFSA, and scholarships, I only wish that I felt more actual guidance from my counselors. 

However, if anyone is in need of finding scholarships, especially local ones, Scholarship Central is a great place to start!