Upcoming College Deadlines Stressing Out Students, Teachers, and Families

James Rockey

George Penn ‘20 applying to college while also doing homework

As September is coming to a close and the early college application deadlines in November creep closer and closer, many people around Whitney Young are becoming increasingly stressed out. Students can be seen frantically running from the library to Ms. Pasulka’s office in the writing center to revise their essays, crowding in the counselor’s office requesting transcript forms and asking how to apply to colleges. Not only are students trying to finish their applications by this deadline, but they also still have  to balance senior year grades, college applications and testing, and extracurricular activities. When asked how they were handling all of this work, Senior Mika Cavanagh said, “It’s definitely tough to be creative when writing essays, especially when I feel so forced because the deadlines are coming up. I have found it hard to balance writing all these essays with all my homework from my other classes.” 

But its not only the Seniors who are stressed. Many teachers and administration members who have to write letters of recommendation are feeling the pressure of the upcoming deadline. When asked about the stresses of writing letters of rec, math teacher Ms Au commented, “On average I have 25 recommendations to write and it is very hard, especially for students applying ED or EA. On Halloween, I don’t answer the door for trick or treaters because I’m locked inside writing essays.” 

The upcoming early deadlines have stressed out lots of parents of students applying to colleges too. Many parents are beginning to worry about how they will finance their children’s education. Mom Catherine Rockey reported, “I am not looking forward to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for college. I hope that my child will get some form of scholarship and go to school at a discounted rate.” Even though Whitney Young students, parents, and teachers are feeling lots of stress, homecoming is right around the corner and that should lighten their spirits.