Favorite and Scariest Parts of The Application Process

Applying to college is one of the most stressful and important times in your life. It’s filled with researching colleges, essays, waiting and excitement! As a junior at UMass Amherst, I asked some of my friends who are also members of the class of 2022 at UMass to look back at their time as seniors in high school applying to college. These are some of my closest friends who are now my roommates and my boyfriend, and I’m so grateful UMass has brought me so close to them. We hope we are able to ease some stress about the application process and get everyone excited about applying to UMass!

Katie

One of my roommates this year, Katie is a nursing major and shared with me her favorite part and scariest part about applying to UMass!

• Favorite Part: My favorite part of the application process was visiting the campus in high school. I had visited with my dad on a tour, but I got the chance to stay for a weekend when I visited friends who were freshmen at UMass when I was still in high school. I got the opportunity to really see what it would be like to live on campus, and it was then that I realized I could actually see myself as a student there.
• Scariest Part: The scariest part for me was actually sending in my final application. I was constantly changing and adding to my applications, and I knew that once I submitted it there was no going back. It was also really scary waiting for the decision to come back on whether I was accepted into the nursing program or not.

Nina

My other roommate, a kinesiology major and psychology minor also shared her highs and lows of the application process.

• Favorite Part: My favorite part of the application process was visiting campus! It was so exciting to be able to see where I would be living, eating, and taking classes. It was also nice that I knew many people from my high school that went to Umass, because I knew how much they loved it. They were able to give some really good advice about courses and student life.
• Scariest Part: The scariest part of the application process for me was just the fear of not being accepted. I am a homebody, so I knew it was likely that I would be attending UMass, since it is close to where I grew up. There was a lot riding on my admission, and it was terrifying! The most worrisome aspect were my SAT/ACT test scores. I was going to apply early action, but a representative from the university actually came to our high school, and was able to help calm my nerves about it. She told me to take some time to study, take the test again, and then apply regular decision. Her advice worked, I got my test scores up, applied regular decision, and was admitted to the best school ever!

Brycen

A biochemistry and molecular biology major, my boyfriend shared his thoughts on the application process!

• Favorite Part: Talking to other people who attended UMass about their experiences was really helpful. Seeing how these people, friends and family included, couldn’t say enough good things about their love for UMass solidified my choice. I sought out personal experience at every school I applied to because I found it to be the most eye-opening and I knew exactly what I was getting into by choosing UMass.
• Scariest Part: Checking off all of the boxes for each college was the trickiest part of the application process for me. There were a lot of things to keep track of, and different college require different things and/or value things to varying degrees. To overcome this I decided to refine my list of candidates which helped me keep better track of all of the requirements of each school.

As our college years at UMass Amherst quickly go by it’s important to reflect on what got us all here. Making the decision to come to UMass was one of the best decisions I have made in my life and I know that all of my friends feel the same way. Try not to stress about your decision too much about the application process and enjoy it.