It begins in August and continues at least until April. It is long and painful. It keeps you up at night. It raises stress levels and causes tension. It is unique to high school seniors.

It is the college admissions process, a glorified waiting game, and it is one of the most difficult parts of being a senior.

First, it is completing the applications and making sure everything is in by deadline. Then it is about waiting. And there is a lot of waiting involved.

Will it ever come? A college acceptance.

For most high school students, the school year begins in August/September and ends in May/June depending on the school.

For seniors, the year may feel way longer.

Students feel obligated to start working on college applications and writing as early as the end of junior year. Some wait until the beginning of the following school year. Either way, the Common Application opens for all students on August 1st.

And when that happens, it’s go time.

The Common Application (CommonApp) is a website that allows students to submit all their resources, information and writing to the colleges they have selected.

It works by breaking down the admissions process into early decision and regular decision. CommonApp takes up most of the fall trying to scramble to reach early action deadlines. Then students can apply for the regular decision deadline later in the year.

Once these applications are submitted, the biggest struggle for the remaining time of the year is waiting. Unless a college has rolling admissions (constantly reviewing and sending back decisions), most decisions don’t come out until around December for early action and March for the regular decision deadline.

Some seniors make their decisions based on reply decisions from schools that come quickly. While most seniors hope for positive responses, that’s not always the case.

“I was very happy that they were done and over with,” said senior Kane Chandler (24’), who decided to submit his applications before the regular decision deadline. “My number one choice for college gave me an expedited rejection letter and got back to me very quickly.”

Any kind of college waitlist, deferral or rejection is a mood killer for any senior, especially those who have waited multiple months.

However, when one door closes (or slams in your face), usually another one opens. And sometimes it opens quicker than expected.

“I was excited to hear back but after my first couple choices rejected me I felt like I was just waiting for another rejection letter,” said Chandler.

However, he eventually got another email from a college he applied to and this time was different.

“I was stuck for a while waiting but one college I was interested in not only admitted me but notified me that I got a big scholarship,” said Chandler.

Submitting applications is a long process, and for a lot of students, it begins in the summer and doesn’t feel like it ends until the following spring.

“I started writing my essays around spring break of my junior year,” said Abby Hiller (24’). “It started to feel like the process ended around December when I found out I got into Charleston.”

For others, those who might not yet have heard from their schools, the waiting game is an even longer process. There is a lot of stress and anxiety in life until the end of the second school year semester.

Survival is all about patience and prayers.

That being said, senior year has many benefits and should be fun and outgoing. The big decision does not have to define senior year. Everyone needs to enjoy it while they can because after all, you only get one senior year of high school.