From kindergarten to high school, students look to senior year as something daunting yet distant. Being the last year of high school, it is the time to become an adult and make huge, life-changing decisions. For the class of 2026, that time is now.

As deadlines are quickly approaching and choices need to be made, Alexandria City High School seniors find themselves in the midst of the application season storm. The Common Application opened on August 1. Early Action deadlines range from October to November and Regular Decision deadlines are sometime from January to February. While that may seem like a long time to non-seniors, ACHS 12th-graders are learning that a couple months is nowhere near enough time.

During this time, student emotions and perspectives vary heavily about the strenuous decisions ahead.

“College applications are a confusing time.” said senior Kyle Doney. “It’s very stressful in the sense that it’s so deadline heavy, but it is also unique in the fact that it’s like taking a snapshot of your life.”

“It feels like I haven’t made any progress or have any control over my life and future,” said senior Kittie Schwarzmann. “The increasing pressure to make a decision on where I want to go only makes me feel trapped.”

Another senior, Daisy Soisuvarn, said she finds the entire routine “daunting.”

“The amount of work needed for supplementals is so demanding, meaning the entire fall season requires a ton of balance,” said Soisuvarn.

In a Theogony survey, students had very strong emotional responses when asked about the worst part about applying to college, with the majority of responses split between feelings of stress and fear of rejection.

When speaking with Theogony, some students shared that they think applying to college can often minimize your efforts and accomplishments no matter how monumental they are.

“College applications are just strange,” said senior Bridget Edmonson. “Summarizing all you’ve ever worked for in a few check boxes and fill in questions makes it all seem so little.”

It’s understandable for students to be lost, overwhelmed or even afraid. To help other students with these feelings, four anonymous students decided to share what has helped them while applying to colleges.

“Creating a spreadsheet tracking the amount of supplemental essays to write along with stats for each school to create a balanced list has helped me stay organized,” said senior 1.

“Using the calendar and information available on common app and not applying to many schools that are not available on common app,” said senior 2. “This keeps all my applications in one place and keeps me from missing deadlines.”

“Naviance makes it easy to request and submit recommendation letters, which takes a lot of that stress away,” said senior 3.

“Filling out applications with my friends helps me actually sit down and work on them,” said senior 4.

While many seniors are still in the long haul of application season, these students shared this information with the hopes that anyone who is feeling lost or overwhelmed can use these tips to make the application process a bit easier.