Stress About College Decisions

Bella Mangione

Deadlines for college decisions are stressful for seniors because of how late they are in the year, which extends the wait to know their admission status. Rolling admission helps reduce this stress by sharing the college’s decision once it is determined.

The final year of high school is arguably the most stressful time for all students. College applications are due, SAT/ACT scores need to be perfected and submitted, and college essays must be written, among other things. Now that the majority of application deadlines have passed, many students are left waiting to get the notification that the university’s decision has been made regarding their admission. 

Senior Remy Vinueza said, “It is challenging waiting to know if you got into a college. You are basically waiting to find out if your high school efforts were effective enough to get you in.” 

Colleges like Florida Atlantic University (FAU), University of Central Florida (UCF), and University of South Florida (USF) are rolling admission, meaning there is no specific date that their decision will be made. It just depends on the date that you completed and submitted your application. 

For USF, they estimate that a decision will be made six to eight weeks after the application is submitted. Many students, including myself, have gotten a notification from FAU informing them of their acceptance, waitlist, or rejection. 

 Florida State University (FSU) will be releasing its decisions on Dec. 15. As for the University of Florida (UF), theirs will be disclosed the last Friday of February, which is, in my opinion, too long a wait for students to find out whether they are admitted or not because it makes them hold off on deciding which college, they will attend for at least an extra two months. 

It is understandable that since there has been an influx of applicants over the years, universities have had to push back their dates for when all decisions will be made. However, it would be easier if colleges like FSU and UF switched to rolling admission to decrease the wait for applicants, which would help reduce the stress of counting the days until they discover their admission status. 

FSU admission website: 

https://admissions.fsu.edu/ 

UF admission website: 

https://admissions.ufl.edu/ 

USF admission website: 

https://www.usf.edu/admissions/ 

UCF admission website: 

https://www.ucf.edu/admissions/undergraduate/ 

FAU admission website: 

https://www.fau.edu/admissions/