Dear High School Senior Applying to College,

I know what you're thinking because a year ago I was in your shoes. The stress, the pressure, the doubts are all consuming you. The time where acceptance letters arrive seems so far away and all everyone asks you is questions about your future, none of which you have any certain answers to.

Yes, I was in your shoes a year ago. Yes, I understand what you're going through. But also, yes, I do know you are going to get through this if you set yourself up for success and trust that everything happens for a reason.

If I told you, your senior year was going to be perfect and the college application and decision process was going to be easy, I would be telling you the biggest lie. I was always told that if you start early if you believe in yourself, senior year would be the easiest year. Well, last year I was up for a wake-up call because for my peers and I, senior year was by far the hardest year. The biggest reason for that is college.

Your senior year of high school is like being on a fence. You have one foot still in high school as you perfect your SAT or ACT scores, finalize your transcripts, continue to attend school, and soak up all the last moments from football games to prom to graduation. Then you have your other foot, which is striding towards your future. If your future consists of the college path then you have the college applications, interviews, and visits. Between these two sides of the fence, you're trying to balance on both of them and not fall off from either of them.

So, how do you withstand the college application process? Trust yourself, trust the process, and trust that everything happens for a reason.

Trust yourself.

When applying for colleges, trust what you want in your college experience, not what your friends want. Most of my friends ended up going to the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech. I remember I completed my entire Virginia Tech application last minute because I was so tempted to go to the same school as all my friends, but then I stopped my self and never sent in my application. Virginia Tech is an awesome school; however, it was not the right school for what I wanted to major in and I realized that those friends who are meant to be my friends, will continue to be wherever I go and I will make new ones wherever I ended up.

If you don't know what you want, then continually visit colleges: visit and take official tours, experience some of the school's social life, and imagine if you could see yourself going there. Some of my friends ended up at colleges they never imagined themselves going to, even after they visited. But talking to former and current students, and experiencing multiple visits, they eventually realized that, that was the college or university for them. Ultimately, find what you want and stick to it, because this is your life and your happiness you're dealing with.

Trust the Process.

The application process can be a tedious one, but when you get those acceptance letters in the mail, you'll realize it was worth it. My advice is to apply to three different acceptance categories of schools: the shoe-ins, the target schools, and the reach schools. The shoe-in category is the schools where your chances of being accepted are very likely. The target schools are where you just match up with everything they want from their applicants and it is likely you will be accepted. Then, the reach schools are the schools that maybe have a higher test score average or average GPA, and your acceptance is more up in the air. Personally, I applied to one of each of these types and got into all three, so I encourage you not to be discouraged and try for those reach schools because rejection does not define you. Trust the process: complete your applications, get those recommendations and wait.

Trust that everything happens for a reason.

My dad always told me, "Whatever college you choose, you have the opportunity to choose how to make the best out of it." Everything happens for a reason, I am a strong believer of that cliché. When I was between two different universities, I got rejected from a scholarship program from one of them. I was super disappointed, but the rejection opened my eyes and I realized that, that the only reason that was holding me to that university was that program, and ended up choosing James Madison University. After being accepted, I also applied for another program, a learning community and got accepted in that and right after, my next few years began to form right in front of my eyes.

I am sitting here, writing this letter to you as a college application survivor, telling you that you will survive. You will make it through if you trust yourself, the process, and that everything happens for a reason.

Good luck my friends, not that you'll need it.