At this point, high school seniors wrapped up their Common Apps while college students scramble for internships and study abroad opportunities. I submitted my own share of applications these past few days; two were for study abroad (one for the summer and another for next spring) and one was for a summer internship. I have a couple more to go through without a set deadline but, even then, there's a sense of anxiety when it comes to completing each one. And of course, there are stages to this process. Here's a list of emotions you feel when filling out an application.
1. Motivated
When you find that perfect school, program or internship opportunity, you get excited. Your search wasn't made in vain and you're determined to get as much of the application done as you can. The early bird catches the worm after all, and chances are that you have to show some competitive edge in order for you to stand out.
2. A Bit Confused
If this is or was your first time applying for something, your motivation will mostly be driven by your own determination, but you probably had one or two moments of confusion. How much information should I include on my resume? What kind of information should I include on my resume? How do I pitch myself as the perfect applicant while not sounding vain in my statement of interest? The questions vary depending on the complexity of your chosen program. And let me just say, my college has some ridiculous hoops that certain majors have to go through by the designated due date. I sympathize with you, my fellow colleagues.
3. Overwhelming Doubts/Criticisms
Because you're pushed to reflect on yourself and your past activities through your resume and personal statement, there are some things you wish you had done differently. Maybe you should have built up more leadership experience during the year. Maybe you regret not putting in more effort in your language class. Maybe you now want to take on skills that are fairly unrelated to your area(s) of study and/or interest, like coding. There's also the quiet, nagging fear that you won't even be considered as a good enough candidate. That motivation from the beginning is faded away.
4. Pushing It Off
You're well into a new semester, which means there's a growing pile of work and responsibilities to juggle alongside these accursed applications. Both your grades and your prospective plans are of vital importance, making it much more difficult to fully commit to either one. You end up shrugging off your apps and dive into that reading you were supposed to do four hours ago. At that moment, they can wait. That, or you completely resign your abilities in finishing them on time.
5. Panic And A Boost of Productivity
Days and possibly weeks go by and you suddenly realize that your application is due in two days. You panic and mentally slap yourself for being so blindsided and not prioritizing well enough. You then spend the next few hours furiously typing up your cover letter and adding the final edits to your writing sample, all the while trying your best to sound coherent and put-together.
6. Finished!
It's the night before the deadline. You look over your app(s) hundreds of times to make sure that you didn't miss any mistakes and that your information is up to date. Your writing should be close to being flawless. After mulling over your documents for a long time, you finally hit "Submit" or "Send" and it's done. It's over!
And then you remember that you have another few to start, finish and send.
Well, there's always another tomorrow.
