“I think that if I would have known these tips my freshman and sophomore year I would have stressed a lot less about the college process,” senior Gabriella Pozo said.

The college application process starts freshman year. As counselor Mrs. Rodriguez said, many 9th graders do not realize the importance of their overall grades, especially since they are ⅓ of the grades that go to college.

Not only is freshman year a time for students to get involved in school and leave their mark, it is also a time to find what type of service initiative they like best.

“Freshman should try to find one consistent volunteering activity or organization where they get their service hours, because it is better for college when you continue helping the same place all throughout high school, rather than volunteering in a million different places,” senior Ane Guerrero said.

The college process can be overwhelming but there are certain things that freshmen can do to facilitate their college applications process later on.

“When I was a freshman I wished I would have gotten more involved in the school, so that I could start getting leadership positions in the clubs,” Guerrero said. “I also wish that I would have started looking for something that I am good at, whether it’s a sport or some other type of hobby because these things help you stand out in college apps.”

Even though the idea of college really starts to sink in junior year, there are many things that sophomores can do that may influence their college apps process later on.

“I think that by sophomore year it is important for students to try to find something they are passionate about or something they have a particular interest for, like a hobby, a future career, or a service initiative, and focus on it,” Mrs. Rodriguez said. “It is fundamental for them to revolve their clubs and service hours around that interest so they can further explore it.”

As a sophomore it is also important not to leave everything to the last minute so it does not pile up at the end.

“Some advice I can give to sophomores is to start preparing for the SAT and ACT testing as early as possible, so it would be great for them to do at least one question of SAT or ACT practice a day,” Pozo said.

According to several seniors, it is much more beneficial to start the research on what the requirements for each college are during sophomore year. Thus when junior year comes, students will be better prepared and it will help take one thing off their mind, so they can focus on the other aspects of the college apps process.

“One thing I wish I knew was how time-consuming the college application process was going to be, because then I would have started dividing up the work and started doing parts of the college apps as early as freshman or sophomore year,” Pozo said.