Anyone who has gone through the college application process knows how long and tedious it can be. From the personal essay to requesting recommendation letters, this can be very time-consuming and stressful to complete. This year, our very own 2024 seniors have been going through this process or have already completed it. Seniors have varying opinions on whether or not Silver Creek High School truly gave them enough help and support in this process.

Lainey Chandler, a senior at Silver Creek High School states, “In English, we had a lot of time to work on our college essay, and Mrs. Kohn explained really well how to put it in Common App.”

Often, seniors end up writing their personal essays through their senior College Prep English 12 course; however, this is not a required course so not all seniors are able to receive this help.

Many seniors agreed that even if they didn’t think they received enough help with the rest of their application, they still received a lot of support on their personal essays.

Cecelia Couch, also enrolled in a senior English class at Silver Creek High School states, “I do not feel like I received enough help [with the process]; however, I feel like I received enough help with how to write my essay.” .

“We got shown videos on how to submit our transcripts but didn’t receive information,” Nora McCloy, a Silver Creek High School senior said, “ I didn’t know that you could look on College App and find school-specific scholarships”

From Chandler, to Couch, to McCloy we see a wide range of opinions on the process. However, one thing stuck out to all of them as being helpful: the counselors.

“The only support I got was in essays and then when I went to my counselor… she was very very very helpful.” McCloy said.

“The counselors are very good at being persistent with dates and reminders of deadlines and college fairs,” Chandler added.

Many wonder what schools can do to improve the college application process in the future.

“They should be starting in junior year,” McCloy said, “They need one long sit-down session or video where they explain it all.”

McCloy feels as though they lacked information and having received more would have been very helpful.

Lauren Kohn, a Silver Creek English 12 teacher added, “More time would always be great. It would be nice if the free app window coincided with the early action deadlines…that would give us a little more time to work on it.”

Couch gave a similar opinion on this topic, saying, “Probably just dedicate more time to it, it is a big step in life. Sometimes having more information is better than having not enough.” Couch said, “Even if it took away more class time, it would be worth it”

College Applications can be a difficult process for anyone, especially a busy student. Even with the help of English teachers as well as counselors, many of these students still feel as if they are not receiving enough help from the school on their college application process.