By Jane Boyd –
The View –
Senior Rachael Beam has spent more hours than she can count applying to colleges, writing college essays and searching for scholarships.
With three months until graduation, she has decided to attend University of Colorado-Denver, although she’s still waiting to hear back from University of Denver.
While applying to colleges — filling out applications, writing essays and researching scholarships — Beam also analyzed data for a company 10 hours a week in addition to her schoolwork.
“My stress level was 10 if you are talking about applications on top of everything I do out of school,” Beam said. “But just college applications alone made my stress level about a six.”
Beam is one of 62 percent of this year’s 440-member senior class who applied to in-state colleges. The most common colleges applied to were Arapahoe Community College, Colorado State University and University of Colorado-Boulder.
Popular states for out-of-state applications included Arizona, Utah and Kansas.
Sabrina Gentry, post-grad counselor, suggests making sure students also have back-up colleges. That way if students don’t get into their top choice, they still can attend a college without stressing about more applications.
Gentry also suggests creating a plan for college applications. She says to figure out the deadline dates and put them on a calendar or in your phone.
In fact, Gentry said, “ . . . start looking for colleges junior year — that way you spend your senior year applying.”
Gentry explains it’s important to look at a college before applying. “Too many students apply and get accepted without even visiting the college,” she said. “But when they get there, they hate it.”
Senior Grace Boyd followed what Gentry suggested. Her junior year she visited many colleges, including two of the five she applied to, as well as other colleges she didn’t apply to.
She visited University of California-Berkeley and University of Colorado-Boulder.
Like Beam, Boyd also had to manage her time to fit in work, extracurricular activities, family and friends.
Boyd works 15 hours a week in the kindergarten room at Castle Academy. She also plays high school soccer. Her schedule was “pretty stressful because I procrastinated,” Boyd said.
But once she decided to attend University of Colorado-Denver, the pressure diminished considerably.
“It was a huge relief and then the excitement kicked in because it was stress, stress, stress,” Beam said. “And now I can finally be excited.”