November 1st: a day that is synonymous with priority for seniors across the United States. Why? It is the day early applications are due. It is the culmination of sweat, tears, and long nights; it is the day everything is done, the day seniors will no longer stress — in some ways — about college. Although this isn’t the end, but rather the beginning of a new journey, it is a relief for many that their futures are out of their hands.
With this crucial decision in mind, I sat down with Mr. Sarmiento, a college guidance counselor, to explain how Prep seniors relate to this process: “Every senior I have worked with has submitted at least one early application to a college.” He followed this by explaining Early Action and Decision: “November 1st is the main date of Early Action, a non-binding application; students usually find out what schools they are admitted to around the holidays. It is more popular,” he added, “than Early Decision, where one is obligated to go if they are accepted because they can wait until May 1st to decide. It allows students to focus on other things instead of college. Both, however, run along the same timeline.” However, this is not the only date of importance. ‘Early Decision Two’ is something some schools use. Its deadline is January 1st, and it allows students to build up their college portfolios, improve test scores, better evaluate financial needs, and fix their college preferences. Some schools, he mentioned, are rolling, meaning your application is processed when it is turned in.
On a different note, many seniors described how relieved they were now that they had applied. Senior Aidan Maione ’24 expressed his alleviation because he finished a majority of the application process: “I’m really happy…[that it] is over. It was a major stress factor for almost everyone. I can enjoy my final months at Prep without transcripts and essays looming over me.”
Mr. Sarmiento also highlighted other options available to Prep students instead of college. “While applications don’t always translate to every single senior going to college,” he said, “as of this moment, I am not aware of any student going into a trade school. There are, however, a select number of students applying to military academies. (NOTE: This is different than enlistment, or direct military service out of high school, but is a four-year undergraduate at a college to become a junior officer in a student’s selected branch). I imagine some students may consider taking a gap year or go somewhere else.”
He also described some of the interests of Prep students: “There are a lot of business majors: accounting, finance, marketing. From what I have gathered, a larger number of students are considering pre-health: nursing, sports medicine, physical therapy in particular.” He added, “There is also a significant subset interested in engineering, whether that is mechanical, civil, computer, electrical… While this is not indicative of what students will do in the future, college and beyond, it does display key interests of Prep students” said Mr. Sarmiento. “Only the future will tell, but I imagine that these majors are a growing trend.”
Mr. Sarmiento also touched upon an aspect of college admissions most sophomore and junior students can relate to: SATs and ACTs. “It’s up to the student to figure out which test they would like to take and focus on that. The formats are a little different so it doesn’t [necessarily] matter which test, but if you have great scores then you can submit them. It really depends on the schools that they are applying to. If a student takes a test, then we work in regards to what their score is, whether or not it will help their process, or even if it isn’t the best idea.” However, their influence is waning. “Most colleges are test optional. On the back burner is one way of putting it. There are some colleges that won’t take tests at all, even if you submit them. It’s in the disposal. However, if what one is cooking [test scores] is good and smelling good, then we might include it in the meal [application], but if it’s not smelling so great, then we will leave it on the back burner or even take it off and figure that out later.”
In fact, as Mr. Sarmiento explained to me, for the last fifteen to twenty years, schools have begun to make standardized tests optional. Some schools have done it for decades now. The pandemic simply expedited the trend, compelling colleges to make the change. The pandemic proved vital in this manner because it demonstrated that colleges and universities can admit great students without standardized tests or scores. Colleges now have started to debate in their institutions whether or not they will require it. Some programs don’t or won’t need it, but others will still require it depending on the type of students a particular program is trying to attract or enroll.
“Most schools have made it test-optional because it’s a more holistic review,” he mentioned. Yet, testing is an integral part of college admissions and a priority for many to do well. “I am testing later this spring,” said junior, Brady Wallace ’25. “I want to take my time with my college admissions. It’s a complicated process. For now, I am only concerned with SAT and ACT testing prep.” And while it may seem redundant to take SATs/ACTs, especially since more than 1,900 colleges aren’t requiring students to submit test scores for 2024, these tests are still proving vital for some colleges.
Some Prep students are welcoming the change, citing equity issues. “I’m beginning to study for the ACT,” said junior John Mack ’25. “Why is it that an exam, which aims to test and score students on their ability to answer questions on varying topics, would lose its credibility through the usage of widely available tools and simple intuition? Calculator programs and shortcuts subvert a genuine understanding of topics, raising the bar for average student scores. This is a disadvantage…[it] undermines the goal of standardized tests to assess all students on an equal level.” And while students without access to certain resources at their disposal may be at a disadvantage, this notion does overlook why standardized testing was implemented in the first place. He noted that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) uses standardized testing scores as another metric to gauge what students to admit. While it may seem counterintuitive to require scores, they are still crucial to distinguishing one from his peers, especially when one is in a pool of high-achieving applicants. “I do understand why it’s needed,” said MIT applicant Nicolas Bambrick-Santoyo’24. “[SATs/ACTs] truly provide much-needed knowledge about a student’s ability in a more structured aspect.” However, Nicolas noted the barrier test scores can be for some: “It can be just one barrier [like testing] for those who want to attend a great school like MIT, especially for those who struggle to take tests.”
Nevertheless, Nicolas summed it up perfectly when he stated, “Applying to college is difficult…many schools have different requirements and supplemental needs. Everyone’s application process is different and has its own struggles, which can be extremely stressful or demanding for students. It’s a hard balance [for students] to make, but I think [one] separates himself from others with his decision, and it’s respectable.”
*Note: Since the initial publication of this article, additional schools have reverted back to requiring applicants to submit standardized test scores. This include the service academies, several public flagships in the southeast, Purdue, Georgetown, MIT, and, more recently, Dartmouth.