Senior Applications

With college application deadlines encroaching closer and closer every day, an anxious buzz can be felt within Masterman's halls. Mr. Zimny, one of Masterman’s biology teachers, has a unique perspective on this nervous energy as a senior seminar teacher. When asked about seniors' emotions, he explained, ”They're nervous, but they’re not sure why they are nervous.” Students cited a perfect storm of schoolwork and supplementals, forming the most daunting test of self-discipline they have ever experienced. One senior noted, “Yeah, I think the self pacing aspect is difficult, because you could just not apply to safety schools, but you should, you just need to keep yourself on track.” Another student added, “It’s rough, there's a lot of work to get done and it’s all on you….you’re really the only one who knows what you have to get done.”  With that as a starting point, we decided we had to interview the nervous Nellies. To start our examination we warmed the seniors up with simple evaluations of  “How many nervous?” and “How many excited?” about college applications; making them hold up as many fingers excited and put down however much out of 10 they were scared or nervous for the application. Our data pool consists of 6 seniors. Here were the results from those six seniors:

Question 1: How is the college application season going?

Student: I would say it is going very stressful. It is way more stressful than they tell you it will be. It is just a very stressful time in general. 

Student: It is a lot, I think it is a pretty daunting task, but you’ll get it done. You may not be getting into your dream school but you will go to a school. 

Student: It’s rough, there's a lot of work to get done and it’s all on you. I'm scheduling myself out and everyone has different deadlines they need to meet and is applying to different colleges. So you’re really the only one who knows what you have to get done. 

Question 2: How are the teachers helping you in this process?

Students*Group 1*: Not—um I feel like not really. Well our english teacher is offering to read our essays and supplementals, but besides that no one is offering to help. They’re not really taking into consideration our work load or asking about it, it is stressful. 

Question 3: and are the counselors being helpful with this?

Students*Group 1*: Yes. 

Students*Group 2*: Oh, the teachers are supporting me very well, I got Dr. Braff writing my recommendation letter, Ms. Rowley too. Ms. Conklin has been really helpful, she reads a lot of our essays, we have a lot of essay based projects and homeworks so that helps a lot. Mr. Beers is helping me write my personal statement. 

Question 4: “How are you making this process exciting or fun? Are you having application parties or something like that?”

Students*group*: We read each other's stuff sometimes. We host college app parties at a friend's house sometimes and then we have some fun afterwards, gambling, ect. 

Student: You can’t [make it fun].

Student: Fun!? I don't think it is fun. It’s not like-It’s a fairly serious matter!

Student: I listen to music when I write my applications, that makes it better. 

   Luckily, there have been efforts to combat fear and stress for seniors. Seniors were given an amnesty week, which disallowed any graded assignments. Kaddy Ren ‘25 advocated for a longer period that took into consideration special circumstances. “The difference this year, as opposed to previous years, is the mock election, meaning it falls right as college applications are due.” English teachers also often pitch in to edit and provide feedback on essays. Along with support from administration, students have found independent ways to cope with the stress. “We read each other's stuff sometimes. We host college app parties at a friend's house sometimes and then we have some fun afterwards” said one student from the class of 2025.

Now that we had talked to the seniors about their personal experience so far with college applications, we wondered how the school was helping seniors with their applications. We wondered about the state of amnesty week (we heard there might be some changes), where no testing or giving of homework was allowed, to give seniors a chance to catch up on all their applications. We decided to ask Kaddy, because she has been involved in advocating to get more days for  the amnesty week. “This year, our amnesty period is from the 24th-28th, and this is spanning over a long three day weekend, and was the most optimal time we could find. The difference this year as opposed to previous years, is the mock election is the presidential election, meaning it falls right as college applications are due. But after talking to some others it was preferred to have the amnesty and still do mock-election work and not other course work.” 

The application process is a mix of stressful yet memorable times. Most importantly, though, seniors are getting their applications done, and now have their long and homework-free week to work. Congratulations for all the already submitted applications and good luck to all the future applications.