As the 2025 spring semester begins, seniors look forward to college acceptances and scholarships.
For many seniors, most of their college applications were submitted by Nov. 1, the early action deadline for participating colleges. Some colleges required even earlier deadlines, such as Oct. 15, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Georgia. Many universities, like Purdue University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, require multiple supplemental essays, often asking for explanations for picking a major or the school itself.
For college applications, deadlines are sorted into three categories: early action, early decision and regular decision. For early action (EA), applicants have an earlier deadline but get their non-binding decisions sooner, usually around December or January. Early decision (ED) is a binding commitment, meaning if you get into the school during this period you must attend the selected college. Regular Decision (RD) is the final deadline for applications and the traditional way to apply to colleges, with a longer application window but a later notification date sometime in spring.
Senior Gabriel Peng applied early decision to Dartmouth College, where he was part of the less than 20% accepted for ED. Dartmouth College is a top 20 (“T20”) school located in Hanover, N.H., and the smallest of the Ivy League schools.
“The hardest part of the application process was the supplemental essays,” Peng said. “While the [personal statement] is an integral part of an application, the supplements are the best way you can establish your demonstrated interest in a school. It’s a fine line between refining them and spending way too much time pouring over every detail.”
However, after applications are turned in, the college work doesn’t stop yet. During the first few months of 2025, many scholarship applications become available.
Usually, there are two scholarship types: college-specific scholarships and independent scholarships.
Some schools have Scholarship Universe, a dedicated school scholarship portal that allows students to apply for hundreds of scholarships within minutes using a detailed form. This includes departmental and school-specific scholarships from foundations and families. Local scholarships usually come out during January and are due in late February and will be awarded at Senior Awards Night on April 30.
Looking forward, the end of senior year comes with multiple events and lessened stress. Decision day, prom, graduation and the senior lock-in (“Project Graduation”) are all important days for second-semester seniors.
“Now that I’m committed, senior year is definitely much more relaxing,” Peng said. “[My] classes are still hard and extracurriculars are still taking up time, but not having anxiety over which college or university I’m going to eliminates a lot of stress I would’ve had otherwise.”
For upcoming seniors looking to learn more about the application process, “The College Talk,” put on by the Lemont High School guidance counseling office, includes a panel of five college-bound seniors talking about their experience applying to college, from the search to their final decision. This year, “The College Talk” will feature a wide range of experiences, from the Air Force Academy to Ivy League institutions.
