For many students, parents have a huge impact when it comes to making important decisions. Come senior year, we have one of the biggest decisions to make of our lives: college.  There are so many factors that come into play when preparing for the future: where you want to live, how much it will cost to live there, and how much student debt you might end up with. However, these are just a few of the things that come with being a college student. 

The college application process is long and stressful. Colleges are looking for students that stand out from everyone else with a high GPA, SAT or ACT score and many other factors that cause seniors to stress about their futures. According to the Princeton Review, 74% of students have reported high stress or anxiety trying to get into the college of their dreams. The most popular way to apply is through the Common Application. The Common Application is a website that simplifies the college application process by putting all of your applications in one, easy to access place. They currently have 600 colleges and universities all over the country ready for application.  

Another stressor when applying to college is choosing a desired major. Some students know what they want to major in right from the start, while other students don’t even think about it until their senior year. Choosing a major is difficult if you don’t know what you want to do as a future career. It’s important to find a school that specializes in the field that you want to go into. Once you apply to a school it can take months to find out a decision. 

Many Rochester students just finalized their application process on November 1: The deadline for most early action decisions. Reflecting on the process, senior Dominic Yono explains some of the particular challenges that he ran into.

“Applying to college is hard because there are so many schools you have that have what you’re looking for,” said Yono. “When I applied I was trying to figure out what college was good for business and there were so many options to choose from I didn’t know what to pick.” Overall, the college application process has many ups and downs, but can open the door for great opportunities.