By Nic Hoffman
Archivist and Copy Editor

Dear Juniors of next year and years to come, college application is a pain and is going to be a stressful time in your life. These tips, some of which I have been told, some of which I have learned, can lessen the stress of the college application process.

1. Start Early. Seriously early.
This is a tip that I was told, but which I did not heed. The application process is tedious and things like inputting grades and activities are monotonous and repetitive, but when you’re a couple days to the deadline and you’re churning out your essays, it will show in the quality. Best to start as early as possible.

2.Reuse essays.
Creating 5-8 unique masterpieces is much tougher and much more time consuming than taking one and brushing it up a little. Focusing on one blanket essay that you can tweak will save you time and will improve the quality of that essay. So long as you use ctrl+f and change the college’s name, make sure it applies to the prompt, and read through the essay before sending it, reusing your school essays can be an effective and efficient process, whether early in the application process or near the deadline.

3.Make your essays sound like they were not reused.
Following the idea of the last tip, tweaking an essay is very important. A successful essay will give off the idea of being sincere whilst using minimal work. Using info about that school specifically will impress the reader, but too much will start to detract from the essay’s main message. Fangirling over the college is too much, but showing interest is very important.

4.Stretch Reality.
Schools love extracurriculars and not everyone has time to do a lot of them. If you were involved at all with something, it’s worth putting down that you were a member. If you went to World Affairs club 3 times for bonus, you’re a World Affairs club member. Don’t blatantly lie, for example, if they ask for the average number of hours per week spent at the extracurricular; tell them candidly the amount you spent.

5.Send it and forget it.
College apps are stressful and decision time just amplifies that stress. Stressing over your app will not help your chances, and they’ll only hurt your social and educational success during the time. Whether it’s a safety or your dream school, you’ll probably feel stress, but try to keep it under control. Find something you enjoy and do that, unless it’s drugs. Don’t do drugs.