With college applications and winter semester finals coming up, seniors report that they are completely swamped with work.
Seniors have a lot to do before winter break. Aside from classwork and keeping up with finals preparation, many seniors are applying to colleges. A lot of seniors are also still adding to their applications, leading clubs or participating in extracurricular activities.
Even with a full schedule of seven classes, senior Jaden Crasto has had an easier time with senior year than with junior year. He takes less Advanced Placement (AP) classes than in his junior year, which heavily reduced his workload.
“In terms of academics, [senior year] isn’t as intense as junior year,” Crasto said.
Senior Mariam Yusuf spends most of her time on academics, but the rest of her time is split evenly.
“It’s a pretty equal balance between sports and college applications right now,” Yusuf said.
Crasto also spends a lot of time playing sports. A sport is a large time commitment, but many students enjoy being part of a team and believe the time is worth it.
“I play water polo,” Crasto said. “So I would say that takes 10 to 12 hours a week.”
Senior Edvin Salguero Leal deals with the workload by planning his time.
“I try to make a planner,” Leal said. “A list of what I need to do, and what’s important.”
Yusuf spends a lot of time working on college applications. Applications are a huge time commitment, and the more schools that students apply to, the more time they must spend. Some schools, such as the University of California system, require applicants to write up to four essays.
“[I spend] close to an hour a day [on college applications], including weekends,” Yusuf said. “So around seven hours [a week].”
Just like Yusuf, Crasto has also been spending a lot of time with college applications.
“College applications are a lot of work,” Crasto said. “I started during the summer, and I was able to get a lot of work done.”