“Psh, it’s only June. With a long summer ahead of me I’ll be done with college applications by January 1 without a problem. In fact, I’ll be done by the second week of summer if I just give some focus to it. You know what, I’ll apply Early Decision…November 1—easy.”
And easy it did sound. That is, until senior year rolled around and the only thing I had figured out was that my summer had been wonderful, and my college application process was nowhere. I had somehow managed to ignore my mother’s incessant pestering urging me to complete a college list and left the hard work for senior year.
Not to say that you won’t get into college if you procrastinate on your applications—I did it—but there is a much better way to do it than having to spend September through December having to research schools and their acceptance data. Not to mention that with the school year to deal with on top of that, those four months seemed more like four weeks.
I am all for the philosophy of working better under the pressure of a deadline—heck, that’s why I’m majoring in journalism next year, but in this case waiting for that pressure is a bad idea.
Once I finally got myself into researching I found that I really enjoyed it. Equipped with the Fiske Guide to Colleges, I spent hours reading about the classes I could be taking next year around new people in different states, different countries even. It was exciting! I could see myself everywhere, but I didn’t have time to mess around and see myself everywhere. I had to pick schools and apply to them, and I had to do it fast.
Looking back, I wish I had started researching earlier. I could have had more than two reach schools on my final list. I could have made the Nov. 1 ED deadline. I could have visited some schools that I never would have applied to had I known what they were like. But, I didn’t.
Although I did end up getting into a great university, one that I am thrilled to be attending next fall, I can’t help but wonder where I would be heading if I had spent a little more time looking into it. By not ever considering some schools, I let go of potential opportunities without even looking at them. I cannot really say that a carefree summer of sleeping in was worth it.