This fall, Southern Lehigh seniors find themselves facing college applications largely on their own. The process, stressful enough simply from the uncertainty of wondering what the years beyond K-12 education will hold, is worsened by students’ unfamiliarity with the type of writing unique to college essays, as well as the Common App platform itself. In past years, SLHS offered resources such as informational assemblies and Spartan Periods, and some still are, but more could and should be done.
For one, college essays are characterized by a particular form of writing: a bit of bragging in order to express an applicant’s worth to the college, toned down by humility to come across the right way, and somehow not sound cheesy when answering a prompt like “how do you plan to change the world.” This is very different from the evidence-based, analysis essays taught in English class, and therefore presents a challenge to most students. Simply finding the time to sit down and write is its own struggle, and many would appreciate some guidance in how to do so. Seniors would benefit from a dedicated space outside of class time to seek help on their essays, such as the SLHS Writing Lab that ran throughout the 2021-22 school year.
Other resources that could be reinstated are the counseling department’s generalized assembly explaining the process, as well as their dedicated Spartan Period during which students could drop in and ask for help on their applications. High school guidance counselor Mrs. Tamme Westbrooks said that the staff provided these resources in past years, but ran out of time to organize them this year due to complications with the switch to Infinite Campus. In working to make sure seniors could access their college transcripts by the end of September, other initiatives were missed.
“Common App is tricky for sure. Now that we are meeting [for senior meetings], we’re having to answer a lot of questions for students individually,” Mrs. Westbrooks said. “We didn’t do a great job this year, but moving forward one of our goals is to create a Canvas course with all of our information.”
Mrs. Westbrooks said that some of that information is accessible on the Southern Lehigh High School website, under the School Counseling dropdown, but that a location to synthesize all the information might be beneficial. Zoe Ast, a senior currently in the process of applications, agrees.
“I didn’t know about Common App till I saw it on TikTok,” Ast said. “TikTok has honestly helped me more than the school. I feel like there are a good amount of resources, but they need to be more open about it.”
Additionally, as Mrs. Westbrooks said, Common App itself is tricky. The software is full of drop-down menus and extra tabs which can be difficult to navigate, and most students are completely unfamiliar with it until they start their applications. Conversely, they are introduced to Naviance, the software through which the district sends college recommendation letters and transcripts, as early as 10th grade in the Career and Technology Applications (CTA) course.
If nothing else, a small introduction to the software could be tied into the curriculum at that point; Common App accounts rollover from year to year, so students could at least put in their information and explore the site to gain a passing familiarity with it.
“I love the idea of teaching students more about the Common App, and while it fits right in with the Career and Technology Applications course content, it might be too early to introduce students to the Common App,” said business teacher Mrs. JoAnn Peralta, who teaches the CTA course. “I would definitely be open to adding it to our curriculum on a ‘get-to-know the Common App, what it’s used for, etc.’ basis.”
Any additional resources would be beneficial to college applicants, or at very least increase communication about what resources are available.
“I feel like there have been a lot of times when I ask if there’s a way to do something, or resources to help,” Ast said, “and [the school] is like ‘there is,’ but I didn’t even know about it.”
