3 Reasons Seniors Should Feel Relieved When the Application Deadline Hits

January 1st of your senior year, the beginning of the waiting game (oh, and New Year’s Day). For most colleges January first is the deadline to submit applications thus marking the two month countdown (approximately) to the day you find out. During this time, you can expect to wonder questions like:

Will I get into my first-choice college?

Can I do ANYTHING else to further my application?

If I check my MyStatus page 37 more times will my decision be posted?

Will I even get into college?

It’s important to remember that when that deadline hits you should feel relief rather than stress. Which is hard to fathom at first, but it really does make the most sense. Here are three reasons why:

You applied to schools you’re happy with.

If you’ve played your cards right you’d be happy going to any of the colleges you applied to. Meaning being prepared f

rom the beginning will pay off now. If you had a list of criteria that was non-negotiable, and made any university a good match for you, attending any of the universities on your list would make you happy. (P.S. If you signed up for College App Camp over the summer you got all this done before school even started!) Applying to a good number of schools with varying selectiveness, but that you are also a good match for, should put your nerves at ease.

YOU’RE DONE!

Another reason the stress should be lifted from your shoulders is that you don’t have to worry finishing your applications anymore because – get this – they’re already done. You don’t have to contemplate original essay ideas, you don’t have to take the SAT or ACT any more, and you don’t have to hear your parents nag you about applying to colleges. There are so many things to be happy about!

You can’t do anything more.

Finally, and most importantly to remember, it’s out of your hands. Anything you try to add to your application at this point probably won’t be evaluated. If you worked hard to get the best SAT or ACT score you could (what Test Prep Boot Camp held your hand through), and put together an application you’re proud of, take comfort in the fact that your hard work is finished. If you don’t get admitted to your first-choice university at least it wasn’t because you didn’t try.