Spartans all around NDB have been going through the stressful process of applying to colleges and all that this entails.
Whether they have been finding test dates for the SAT and ACT, anxiously writing application essays, or frantically reviewing the multitudes of applications that need to be submitted, seniors around NDB are all in the midst of this daunting experience.
Although seniors are all eagerly awaiting the day when acceptance letters arrive and the weight is lifted off of their shoulders, the Spartans still have some work to do before they get there.
Fortunately, they can count on NDB’s Director of College Counseling, Dr. Dina Cunha, to help them through this process. The Catalyst sat down with Cunha to discuss the college application season.

The Catalyst (TC): What is the main thing that you think students should focus on the most during this process?
Dr. Dina Cunha (DC): What you should be doing is two things. One is: You’re going to be suring up that college list – Adjusting it, tweaking it. This is stuff that we’ve worked on since junior year. So, it’s really that piece because it drives everything else. One of the things that’s driving is the essay writing – That’s the second piece. Because of that college list, you have an understanding of what essays to write.

TC: Are there any mistakes that you would warn seniors against making in their applications and/or essays?
DC: One of the biggest ones – It happens to a small number of seniors – is not reading all the instructions in the application. So often, kids want to be intuitive about everything and jump in. The mistake on the essay part would be more if they don’t have a second pair of eyes looking at it.

TC: Would you say that one of the biggest issues that a lot of people have is that they rush through things?
DC: Yes – They jump in. That scares me a little bit because you might miss something. The college application is so much like your interview with that college.

TC: Do you think that the changes that many schools have made due to COVID-19, such as becoming test optional, have made any considerable impact on a student’s ability to be admitted into certain schools?
DC: Maybe 700 colleges were test-optional, pre-pandemic. Now, it’s like 99%, thus far.
And what I’ve noticed – and the UCs have noticed this too – is that they’re getting now a lot of really interesting applicants because the SAT is not keeping them from applying… So, their numbers went up astronomically and became more diverse on top of it. Now, you take the SAT out of the equation, they can now focus more on, not just the grades, [but] the grade trends, the grade rigor, the letters of recommendation…