Students now are under tons of stress. Whether it is with their family, friends, but mainly their education. Education determines and affects a great amount of students’ future, but why should we be worried about it now? 

In the past, students didn’t even have to think about what they wanted to be when they grow up, or what universities they had in mind to attend. Now, that’s all we agonize about. The 2020 pandemic affected many lives, but it also caused college acceptance rates to decrease more than they have in years. More applicants are getting rejected from universities due to the competitiveness of colleges across the nation.

The competitiveness is caused by the increase of applicants this year. More and more people are applying to universities across the United States for multiple reasons: SAT and other test scores aren’t required for applications, many people didn’t apply during the pandemic, and the population is increasing which means the number of students are increasing. 

What difficulties is your daughter going through while applying to universities?

“It was that every school has their own essay questions, so it’s a lot of writing. The questions are really weird too, because universities want to prevent people from copying and pasting their answers from other applications. A lot of my daughters’ friends have gotten rejected from multiple colleges they applied to.” – Mrs. Green

Last month, high school students received their acceptance letters from the universities they applied to. Unfortunately, many students, even the most impressive and diligent ones, got rejected. This made current high school students, and even middle school students, get anxious and dejected due to their loss of hope and enthusiasm for the college application process. This is why students now should prepare for what they need to do and know in order to get accepted into their ideal universities. Here is what you should do:

1. Research universities and educate yourselves on what programs they offer that fit your interests 
2. See what those universities look for in their students (high grades, sports, talent, etc.)
3. Improve and broaden your extracurriculars (find a few things you’re passionate about and stick with it throughout high school)
4. Maintain good grades and a high GPA (it will increase your chances of acceptance to a college you want to attend)
5. Don’t stress yourself out! You still have time to research and do what is needed to get into whatever university you want to attend. 

What are most current students planning on doing after graduation?

After taking a poll in TRCN (Video Production and Yearbook), we found that 48% of students are planning to attend a university in California (either UC or CSU), 28% are not sure where they want to go yet, and 20% are planning on going to a university in the U.S, but not in California. 

Attending a college or university is highly recommended. It opens multiple doors to opportunities that you can’t get without an expanded education. You can always take the initiative to research about universities and what they offer to get yourself prepared and knowledgeable for your future. There are also multiple degrees you can get from universities/colleges that you can educate yourself about as well. If you have any questions about what comes after high school graduation, you can always ask your parents, teachers, or any other adult familiar with the process.