College admissions are often seen as the ultimate struggle of high school students—the final reward for each course taken, club joined, or sport played by each student at Loyola. For many, it is also the most stressful part of their academic life.

For seniors, deciding where to apply can be challenging. There are so many different schools, and picking where you’ll spend your college years can be frightening. Even more frightening might be acknowledging that you may not meet the standards of your dream school. However, picking where to apply and keeping the number of applications made reasonably low are instrumental in minimizing the application scramble.

Many seniors find themselves spending the application season writing their essays, which for some can number up to thirty. This, in addition to the rush of ensuring resumes, letters of recommendation, and any other last-minute needs are complete, creates an environment of stress that would give anyone problems.

Elliot Gross ‘25 stated, “I wish I would have done more virtual tours and visits starting earlier so I could narrow down the schools I wanted to apply to.”

There’s a mutual understanding of the major benefit of “doing your homework” for colleges before applications come near. Seniors often don’t figure out which schools to apply to, and they would rather apply to as many as possible than miss out on future experiences. Loyola counselor Daryl Crowley said that the most common source of stress was “being overwhelmed by the process because they’re applying to too many schools.”

However, certain things can be done to mitigate this. Typically, applying to fewer schools can result in indecision. Seniors might feel they don’t know enough about schools or where best to place their admissions bets. Crowley suggests, “Research schools, go on college tours and do not apply only because of the name or someone else is applying—apply because it’s a good fit for you.”

Deciding where you want to go can be the difference between eight essays and thirty, between comfort and chaos in what should be your most enjoyable year as a Cub. So juniors, take note. Don’t make the same errors as your predecessors. Apply to a manageable yet ambitious array of colleges to avoid stress.