The college application process is one of the most stressful moments of a high school senior’s career. The process may sound easy, but so much time and effort is needed to make the whole thing possible. Seniors need to gather all of the correct paperwork such as teacher recommendations, essays, supplemental questions, and more required documents.

Every deadline has to be met, turning in late applications is not the ideal way to the college admissions’ hearts. Seniors tend to experience a sense of burnout after filling out what feels like the 50th short-answer question, but they must power through. It is crazy to see the immense amount of time and effort poured into the college application process, but once it is all finished, there is absolute silence.

There is so much anticipation in waiting to hear back from colleges. Students wait for months just to open a piece of paper which reveals if they got accepted or denied from their dream school.

“I’m pretty stressed and I’ve been focusing on school a lot more so I can keep my mind off of my college decisions,” said NDB senior Leah Lad. “Knowing that whether or not I get in is completely out of my control now.”

Many people are on edge knowing that their future lies in the hands of the admissions officers. Seniors begin to question if what they wrote in their applications was good enough or if they could have spent more time working on it if they did not procrastinate as much.

The lockdown also does not help ease the anxiety while being stuck at home all day. The constant cycle of Zoom hours and screen time is not the best way to cope in trying to get their minds off their college decisions.

“I can say that we have a great group of seniors, and despite the impact of COVID-19, our students are still getting into great schools,” said NDB Director of College Counseling Dina Cunha. “For those who are still waiting, hang in there.”

I find myself watching Youtube or Tik Tok videos about people’s college acceptance and rejection letters. I get excited seeing others getting into their dream schools, and their videos relieve my anxiousness and give me a little hope for my decisions coming out next month.

Even though this may feel like one of the longest transition periods of the second semester, it will definitely be worth it. The constant checking of email inboxes to hear back from colleges will come to an end soon, but for now, seniors must play the waiting game.