College is supposed to be the proven training ground for the life ahead; Its supposed to teach you lessons that you will be able to use your entire life. But is that really the case? Are college applications teaching students anything? And are the stresses of these application doing any good for the students? As we make our way into the final weeks of this process, the seniors that are still in the mist of writing and submitting applications, cannot wait to be done.

For many students at the Out of Door Academy, college is stressed at the beginning of their 8th grade year. From then on a student is assigned to college counselor, either Mr. Runge or Mr. Harding. They work with the students from then on, discussing college options and protocols. But for most the college process does not really start until a students junior year and some would even say their senior year. These two years are critical. This is when the students have to take either the SAT or the ACT and begin to write the applications (which include the added supplements).

“I believe that the college process has become an extremely stressful and tedious process, when it should in fact be the opposite. Too many students are doing activities just for the sake of “looking good for college”. Students are put under too much pressure when it comes to applying to college, and they are losing their individuality. Although this is not the case for everyone, it is definitely an issue evident in our society. There’s no doubt that everyone feels some sort of stress while participating in the college process, but it’s the the talented work of our college counselors that help us stay organized and put us at ease”, says senior Benjamin Edelman.

This only begs the question: Why is getting into college so stressful? Well that depends on you…