Is this the most exciting part of the year for the Grads–or perhaps the most daunting? It’s the time when thirteen years of persistent dedication has finally paid off. Anxiety builds as time passes waiting for that letter. Either way, there’s no going back to Kindergarten or even Grade 11—the next few months are unstoppable.
Spring. It’s the time of year when the Grads receive their acceptances (and inevitable rejections) to universities. This ultimately means that there’s no such thing as a Grade 12 student who isn’t at least a little bit stressed—even if they won’t admit it. Nonetheless, application processes vary.
Those who have had slow starts to the year and who are still planning on applying to Canadian universities are in luck. The deadline for some of these schools isn’t until the middle of February. The application process is quite succinct, depending on the program. Generally, a student is accepted to a school based on for four or five Grade 12 subjects. In some cases, he or she may be asked to submit supplement essays or to attend an interview. However, the application experience is monumentally different compared to a student applying to the States.
The American application process is quite lengthy and most of the deadlines have already passed. For this year’s Grad class, preparation to apply started back as early as 2012. These universities look at each academic class beginning in 9th Grade. Most schools require standardized tests (usually the SAT or ACT), teacher recommendations, supplemental essays and responses. For those who applied Early Action or Early Decision to a university, the stress of waiting has been relieved.
Lisa Yang—who finally has this fortune of feeling relieved—was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania in early December. She has a binding contract with the school, as she applied Early Decision. Fortunately, she could not be more “excited for new opportunities”! There’s no doubt that Lisa will excel at UPenn next year, as she’s a dedicated student, fully engaged in service and other extracurricular activities. Lisa’s the type of person who doesn’t back down from any sort of challenge, which has been proven through her persistent success with Collingwood’s debate team. Her favourite courses throughout high school have been AP World History, AP European History, and AP Calculus AB/BC—which demonstrates her passion for learning in all faculties. If anyone has truly earned an acceptance to such a prestigious school (and a sigh of relief), it’s Lisa.
Ultimately, no matter where a student applies, the most testing activity isn’t actually completing the application—the most arduous task are the waiting hours, weeks, and months to hear back. But no matter how stressful the anticipation is, how many deadlines you’ve pulled all-nighters to make, how many hundreds of times you’ve logged into your Common Application account, the excitement that you’ll feel upon receiving a congratulatory letter certainly outweighs all of these stressors.
By: Alex Weir