College. That word on its own scares me. College is where you’re supposed to find yourself, but I see me and the people around me not knowing what they want to do with their lives. Balancing FAFSA, SAT’s and ACT’s, the Common App, other college applications, getting good grades, a social life, and everything else in between makes seniors lose their minds when it comes to college application time. The deadline for early decision on the common app is November 1st and usually rolling admissions end in January. The pressure to get into college while also trying to maintain everything else that comes with senior year is too much to handle for some students, which causes many people to not even apply to college at all. According to www.bls.gov, only 62% of high school students in America attended college in 2015. This is partly because the pressure of getting into college and the college application process is to rigorous and stressful. Not to mention the cost of college is insane. According to http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/, in 1975, in-state tuition yearly was only $9,875 in today’s dollars. Now, for most in-state schools, tuition can be up to $33,500 dollars a year: more than most entry-level salaries in the jobs students will be getting with those degrees. This adds up to $134,000 dollars after four years in a public college. For many people, this number is unfathomable and the students who stick with it are left with endless amounts of debt.
The problem of the college application process and college tuition is not something students can solve on their own. However, some colleges are starting to be more accepting by not forcing students to send in their SAT and ACT scores because they understand that those scores do not define a person or their academic capability. This is a small step for students, but it definitely takes a lot of pressure off of us. Hopefully by the time our kids go to college they would have found a system that is easier to understand and less stressful. For the time being, I just hope that going to college and becoming independent will make this all worth it.