Are You On Time? 

Early Application deadlines are rapidly approaching for the Class of 2020. Seniors are diligently preparing supplemental essays and SAT scores while striving to distinguish themselves from many competitive candidates; the college application season is in full swing. 

At Cape Henry Collegiate, students are fortunate to receive help from the college counseling team, including Mrs. Stello, Mrs. Baytops, and Mrs. Stone. Caroline Dixon, Class of 2020, remarks that Mrs. Stello has been her biggest asset in the process thus far, as she is “helping [her] realize where [she] gets in is where [she] is meant to be.” New Oasis Student Chris Chen, Class of 2020, noted that Mrs. Baytops created “a to-do list of everything [he has] to do” to meet his deadlines and complete his respective applications. The third superhero of the college counseling team is Mrs. Stone, the administrative assistant to college counseling who has to “format, proofread, and submit” the letters of recommendation to colleges, combined with the transcripts she receives from Mrs. Kanakaris. Mrs. Stone states the most intense aspect of the college application process is “getting everything [submitted] in a timely manner” which requires students and teachers to be organized and recognize deadlines. Mrs. Stone proudly stated she has “never missed a deadline,” which emphasizes her crucial role in the student’s application journey. One student who will be seeking out the help of Mrs. Stone soon is Caroline Dixon. 

Dixon is currently working on applications for Wake Forest, The University of Virginia, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Elon. She notes her biggest difficulty is “writing everything [she wants] to tell the school about [herself] within the word limit.” Another challenge Dixon spoke about was balancing her rigorous course load, tennis, and applications. To combat this, Caroline was proactive and remarked she often had to “work ahead in classes to make time for the applications.” She is currently working on the Wake Forest application, which contains ten supplemental essays in addition to the common application, which is accepted by over 800 schools. 

The Common Application and its counterpart, the Coalition Application, are the two most popular ways to apply to colleges. While each school has separate supplemental questions, the Common and Coalition Applications allow students to input information such as home address, parents’ occupations, and high school grades only once. Popular schools for Cape Henry students that accept the Coalition App are Virginia Tech and Clemson. In contrast, the Common Application is accepted by every Ivy League college in addition to schools like the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Fortunately for Senior Chris Chen, all of the schools he is applying to accept the Common App.

Chen states he is applying to “New York University, Boston University, Boston College, the University of Michigan, and a couple of UC schools,” but admits he is still adding to his list. Chris’ experience is different than that of a majority of Cape Henry students, as his primary language is Chinese. Chen confesses “writing supplemental essays for the common application” has been challenging, as “writing in perfect English is hard.” It is quite impressive for Chris to apply for college in his second language. Chris states he is “kind of nervous,” as he has “no knowledge of how American university” functions. Nevertheless, he is eager to submit his Boston University application, as he is applying Early Decision. 

While not every student is applying early, each began their college application process this summer, and it has continued to influence how they utilize their time. The Cape Henry faculty lends its support to the seniors through writing recommendation letters or sending off transcripts. The seniors are in the spotlight this year; as younger students look up to them, other members of the community have cultivated the Class of 2020, pushing them to the final step: college.