Every year, seniors all around the world face a huge amount of stress during college application season. Articles from the LA Times High School Insider and The Mirror show that Seniors have a lot of pressure on their hands from deadlines, essays, and being afraid of not getting into the colleges they want. On top of that, an article from the LA Times says that the college admissions process is actually making students’ mental health decline. With all of this going on, it makes it easy to see why seniors feel so overwhelmed during this time of the school year.
At de Toledo High School, college counselors see the stress and work the Seniors are enduring. Mrs. Hedgspeth, one of the college counselors at dTHS, says “the hardest part for seniors is time management; students are trying to balance schoolwork, applications, extracurriculars, and many underestimate how much writing they’ll have to do.”
Hedgpeth also believes applying to college is “like its own curriculum,” where students have to juggle everything going on with them all at once, which she says “is good practice for real adult life.” Mrs. Hoover Rios, the guidance counselor and teacher at dTHS, said, “Seniors show signs of burnout such as emotional stress, frustration, friend conflicts, and stronger reactions to grades.” Both Mrs. Hedgespeth and Mrs. Hoover Rios think that the workload during this season makes everything more intense.
Even though stress is a big part of application season, there are ways schools can help the students by taking their stress off their shoulders a little bit. Mrs. Hedgspeth says, “Teachers should be reminded of application deadlines through a shared testing calendar and faculty announcements.” She thinks adding application workshops during the school day could give students the time that is definitely needed to support them.
Mrs. Hoover Rios thinks that potentially starting the college process earlier in junior year, and making essay bootcamps mandatory, so students aren’t rushing their application work at the last minute. She also pointed out that “sometimes the problem isn’t only the school’s workload but the students’ commitment and workhabits. She also thinks that having more time in their schedules would help them stay ahead.
At nearby Milken Community High School, counselor Mr. Elliot Shavalian says that “the solution starts with communication between teachers and counselors.” And a student at MCHS, Gabrielle Kadouri said, “
Teachers often only focus on their own classes and don’t pay attention to how many assignments and deadlines students are managing in all of their classes. Some schools fix this by using shared calendars, so big projects don’t pile up in the same week. Mr. Shavalian said that at Milken, giving students some flexibility with due dates and making sure teachers know when application “busy seasons” happen has made a huge difference in reducing stress without lowering academic standards.
College application season is stressful, not just because of the work, but also because students are moving in so many directions at once. Better planning, earlier preparation, and stronger communication between teachers and counselors can make the biggest impact. Seniors shouldn’t have to choose between keeping up in school and applying to college. With a few changes, schools can make this time less stressful and help students focus on doing their best without burning out.
