College application process adds future stress to present workload for senior juggling act
Amid the usual grind of homework, extracurriculars, jobs, and other obligations, seniors face another challenge—and opportunity—looming on the horizon: college applications. With most colleges and universities imposing final January deadlines for applicants, students are working to condense their life experiences and high school accomplishments into personal essays and activity lists, trying to optimize their chances of acceptance. As students craft their applications and plan the next four years of their lives, critical questions hang over them—Will I get in? Can I afford it? What if I need help?
These concerns are putting considerable pressure on students of all grade levels. In a survey conducted this October, the average level of stress over the application and financial aid processes among students planning to go to college at any point in the future was 3.28 on a 5-point scale. Among seniors planning to go to a 2- or 4-year school immediately after graduation, the average stress level was nearly identical at 3.27.
For senior Kylin Butler, it’s been easy to feel overwhelmed with the various components of the admissions process and the uncertainty of the future.
“There’s a lot to it, the applying part and trying to get scholarships to get money. Everything around it is just stressful,” he said. “And you have to do a bunch of applications just in case you don’t get into the college you want to go to.”
Sue Xiong, counselor for the Class of 2026, says that the college preparation process starts even before students begin working on their personal essays or filling out applications.
“The most common question I get is, where do I start?” she said. “The application process can be overwhelming, so I highly recommend for students to research possible colleges and universities based on their career interests and whether or not the school is a good fit for them.”
Students confident in their desired major or career path may find it useful to look for colleges with strong programs in these areas. Factors like location, study abroad opportunities, campus size, and institutional culture are also important to consider, according to Xiong.
“Oftentimes, I think you will know when you walk into a college campus if it's a good fit or not,” she said. “I tell kids all the time, listen to your gut.”
Finding colleges to apply to is just the first step. As they work on applications, many students worry about not having the academic record to get into their dream schools.
“[I worry] that I won’t get good enough grades because I always blank on tests,” one anonymous junior with aspirations of attending UW-Madison wrote in the October survey.
However, a student’s academic record is only one part of their application, with schools also considering extracurriculars, essays, and recommendations as part of a holistic admissions process. Xiong says that participation in activities beyond the classroom can help students show colleges their willingness to step outside their comfort zone while developing skills for the future.
“Whether that be getting involved in a sport, joining a club that you're passionate about, getting involved in community service, or even managing a job, really shows colleges that you are a well-rounded student,” she said.
Many students feel the most pressure about writing their personal essay. Xiong emphasizes that the essay is an opportunity for students to reflect on their passions and values and capture strengths that may not be evident in other areas of their application.
“They can see your GPA, the classes you're taking, but what they don't see is some of the personal challenges that you’ve overcome,” she said. “They’re not looking for your whole life story. In every good essay, it’s always better to pick something specific, or give very specific examples and stick with that, and make it so that you will stand out. I think it’s important to be authentic.”
If the personal essay is the place for a student to highlight their identity and growth as an individual, letters of recommendation offer complementary narratives of their role in the classroom and community. Xiong says it’s important for students to seek recommendations from mentors they connect with and who can speak to their successes.
“The rule of thumb is to get letters from at least two people. One of them could be a teacher, and then the other could be maybe a coach or advisor, or maybe a family friend, who knows you really well and can speak to your personal qualities and characteristics,” she said. “The teacher provides a different perspective about you as a student, your work ethic and motivation, but you want somebody who can vouch for you.”
Ultimately, where a student enrolls may not be as critical to their college experience and future success as they believe. Dr. Tracy Slagter, a political science professor at UW-Oshkosh, says that taking risks and building relationships with peers and professors allows students to maximize their education.
“You can go to all of your classes and never talk to anyone and you will get an okay education, but you won’t have an experience,” she said. “It’s being engaged in classes, talking in classes if you can, getting to know instructors, but more than that. If there’s a game, if there’s a club meeting that you’re even remotely interested in, if there’s a speaker on campus, you just need to go, as a first year student in particular.”
Especially as the size of the college applicant pool contracts as a result of the nation-wide demographic cliff, many colleges and universities are trying to make applications more accessible to students. Most schools in the Universities of Wisconsin system are in their second year of a direct admit program that offers admission to juniors in participating districts based on GPA requirements set by each university. Nearly 34,000 current Wisconsin high school seniors received direct admit offers this August.
When students get direct admit offers, Xiong says it is important for them to take action to secure those opportunities.
“For me, it’s just been telling students you have to fill out the direct admit form. Even if you’re not interested in going, at least that’s still an option for you,” she said. “Filling out the form does not commit you to the university whatsoever. What it does is connect you to resources on campus so that you can get connected right away to learn more about scholarship opportunities and different types of programs that they have.”
Other programs, like the Wisconsin Tuition Promise, which covers the cost of tuition at the state’s public universities for Wisconsin undergraduates whose families earn up to $55,000 annually, are aimed at improving financial accessibility. Throughout the application process, students feel the weight of future tuition payments. In the October survey, students’ average concern with their ability to afford college was 3.27 on a 5-point scale, and 16% of respondents rated their concern a 5.
As stressful as financing their education can be, Xiong suggests that students prioritize college applications so they will already have things like letters of recommendation and personal essays on hand when they begin applying to scholarships.
“Most scholarships are not due until after December, so I keep telling students, focus on the college applications first,” she said. “Then you can move on to those scholarships because scholarships have essay prompts that are very similar to the essay that you have written already for your colleges.”
Assistant Principal Heidi Wheaton, who worked in the counseling office for decades, says that a variety of resources are available to students to help them afford college, including through West.
“Scholarships are online on the counseling website, and there are so many scholarships that are out there, especially through the Community Foundation,” she said. “They’re refreshed throughout the years, so once a week, if you go on that page and look and see what’s there, that's a good thing to do.”
Xiong acknowledges that financial aid can be overwhelming, but she highlights resources, such as FAFSA drop-in workshops at Fox Valley Tech and the aid offices at the schools they are applying to, designed to help all students receive aid.
“Some students feel that maybe their parents make too much money, so they’re not going to get any sort of financial aid. That’s not true,” she said. “Financial aid comes in the form of work study, where you work on campus and you get paid to fund your tuition. There’s also loans that you can take, but loans from the government based on income. You can get subsidized loans, which means that the interest rate is going to be a lot lower than if you were to loan from a private bank.”
by Aria Boehler
Published November 3, 2025
Oshkosh West Index Volume 122 Issue II