Senior year. The pressure is on. Your life will become nothing but the Common App essay and the supplemental questions. How are you supposed to apply for college but at the same time ensure that your grades stay high enough to get into the colleges that you’ve been taking the time to apply to?

Applying to college is certainly not a small feat.  What if I said that I could help with the stress you’ll feel during this process? Read on and I’ll help you learn how to have a less stressful college application process.

Start early! Start your college search at the beginning of your junior year, maybe even the end of your sophomore year. If you know what you want to do, focus on schools with strong programs for your interest. If you have no idea, then look for school that have numerous programs.

Also consider affordable schools; SUNYs for example have great programs, and many are even better than some private schools. Undergraduate school is not the time to go into debt. Find a school that is affordable and has good reviews for your intended program.

The Common App essay is something that might give you a hard time. Although there are prompts, the essay can be about almost anything. Focus on something that you could talk about for hours, something that affects your everyday life, something you care about. If you don’t care about the subject you’re writing about it’s going to show in your essay. Remember: this essay is going to be something you work on for a couple months and is intended to show your best qualities.

I’m in the college process right now. I started my essay in August and still find myself rearranging words and changing ideas all the time. Once again, start early! I recommend starting in August. I now am on the right track and have the opportunity to apply early action to multiple schools. One thing to remember during this entire process is that your essay will not be perfect, but neither will anyone else’s.

When senior year starts immediately make an appointment with your guidance counselor. They will help you get on the right track throughout the Common App process. It’s extremely important to communicate with your guidance counselor, so you both know the deadlines you have for specific colleges, especially if you plan on applying early action or early decision. Those dates generally are around the end of October towards middle of November.

It’s also important to ask your teachers for recommendations early in the year. You must give them at least a three week’s notice before your application is sent in, it is also nice to give more than three weeks because teachers are taking time out of their busy schedule to ensure you succeed.

Finally, remember that although this process may feel like it’s going to make or break you, it will not. Your well-being is more important than getting all your applications done early. If you become too stressed, take a break from college applications for a few days. Take a nap and hang out with some friends. Once you feel better start again, maybe with a new idea. The process will stress you out and you will write your essay over and over again, but starting early will help decrease the stress!