As seniors across the country move into the season of college applications, the annual discussion on how to conquer the application process begins to dominate the lives of students everywhere.

For North senior Melina Raglin, the application process has been extremely involved as she prepares to apply to eight schools: Indiana University, University of Southern California, Ohio State University, University of Michigan, Yale, Northeastern, and the University of Washington.

According to Raglin, the most challenging aspect of working on her college applications has been the research involved. She plans to pursue technology and business. Because her interests are so specified, it’s difficult to search through the thousands of programs at hundreds of schools to find what is right.

Raglin is one of many seniors who experience the same stress in choosing the “best” schools to apply to for both their career interests and personal preferences in campus.

For upcoming seniors and other younger students who are beginning to think about applying to college, her advice is simple.

“Start your research early, find what fits to your specific interests, and visit the schools you apply to,” Raglin said. “When I was a junior I thought Berkley was my dream school, and after I saw it, I didn’t even want to apply.”

Unlike Raglin, many students at North choose to apply solely to Indiana University or Ivy Tech. For some students, these colleges are appealing because of in-state tuition, specific programs, or the fact the schools are in their hometown.

For Grace Saccone, however, her decision to attend Indiana University was based on her commitment to continue her athletic career with the IU women’s soccer team. Although Saccone had several D1 schools looking to obtain her as a player, she found IU to be the best fit school for her academic, athletic, and personal wants.

“I chose IU because of the practicality regarding the cost of being in-state and soccer scholarship I received, the soccer program and perks of being in the Big Ten, and the coaching staff on the team,” said Saccone.

Despite the similarity to other Bloomington students in choosing IU based on the tuition, Saccone’s application process differed from many of her peers

“My application process was a little different because everyone who is committed to Indiana University for athletics is practically guaranteed to get in,” she said. “I still had to complete the application process and apply for scholarship money like everyone else. The only difference is that I did not have to stress as much about getting in, and only had to apply to one school.”

While she did not have to worry as much about actually applying to and being accepted into the college of her choice, she did face the same struggle that many athletic commits face: making a decision so early in high school.

“As a freshman or sophomore you have an idea of where you can see yourself in the future, but it’s hard to be certain when you’re planning for three years ahead,” she said. “All the NCAA rules and regulations make it very stressful and difficult to communicate with coaches, and my biggest fear was that I was going to have different preferences once it was actually time to go to college.”

Although the perspective of seniors currently experiencing the application process can be very insightful into the tips and tricks of applying to college, students who have already completed the process can provide a new understanding into applying.

Frannie Kincaid graduated from North in 2017 and is currently a sophomore at Indiana University. As a North alumni, she remembers the application process of her senior year very well.

When choosing which college to attend, Kincaid was in a unique situation, being one of the two recipients of the Lilly scholarship, which paid for all of her tuition to any Indiana college.

After winning the Lilly, Kincaid chose to apply to Notre Dame and IU. When she wasn’t accepted into Notre Dame, IU was her clear choice.

“Basically my choice was made for me, but I’m so happy that it was,” said Kincaid.

In speaking on both the Lilly application process and college application process she remembers how challenging certain aspects of applying could be.

“I think the hardest part of the application process was trying to make sure I said something that hadn’t been said before and make myself stand out.” she said.

For those currently applying to colleges, Kincaid wishes to offer a common sense strategy that she followed.

“I would say that seniors definitely need to look at the financial aspects of colleges before they make a decision,” Kincaid said. “And make sure you apply to as many scholarships as possible.”

The college application process remains a challenging, competitive, and often times stressful experience. Whether a student finds themselves set on one school or applying to as many as they can, each circumstance provides different difficulties or concerns in mastering their applications. However, it’s important to remember excitement for the future and the opportunity to pursue a higher education is by far the most important part of applying to college.