Class of 2015 confused about college

The deadlines to submit college applications for early decision and early action fall throughout the month of November, but does Springbrook High School’s senior class feel prepared for this fast approaching deadline?

College applications are one of the most stressful parts of senior year, and many seniors are having a difficult time.

“Applying to college is pretty scary, and Springbrook isn’t doing a good job informing the seniors of how to do things,” senior Aaron Bloom said.

According to counselor Karen Greger, a third of the senior class attended individual senior meetings during the summer, where they met with their counselors and discussed their plans for the future.

According to counselor Madonna Brown-Miles, the counseling department prioritized those who earned above average standardized testing scores and grade point averages. Summer sessions gave these students the opportunity to prepare for college four weeks prior to other students.

“I feel it’s unfair because all the students aren’t getting the same amount of attention,” senior Adib Afnan said.

Senior meetings will be contiued for the remainder of the first quarter for those who did have the chance to meet with their counselors during the summer.

Senior meetings allow students to ask questions about college, but there were other opportunities to learn more about the college application process. During the second week of school, all seniors attended a class meeting. Nevertheless, this meeting did not focus on college applications.

“They talked more about homecoming and how cool it is to be seniors instead of how to apply,” senior Asma Shah stated. “It’s really stupid because there are a lot of things about the whole process I don’t understand like using the Common App and Naviance and no one is actually explaining what to do.”

The advisory period, a homeroom period that occurs every Wednesday, is another opportunity to acquire information concerning college applications. Overall, the feedback of advisory has been negative, but plans for the future are discussed during these periods.

“We talked about college apps, and it was the biggest waste of time,” Afnan noted. “It was all stuff I’ve already been told before.”

Although many seniors do not believe that advisory is helpful, teachers will be explaining more about college applications during future advisory periods.

“As the year goes on, college will be discussed more during these periods. We will go more in depth later on,” English teacher Adam Bahr said.

The college application process is a stressful and difficult time for the majority of seniors, but the best way to receive information about the process is to ask for information. Talking to teachers and counselors can decrease the amount of stress seniors feel.

“Definitely see counselors; they are available almost all the time for questions from seniors,” Greger said.