Are Problems with the Common Application Overhyped?

I was so excited about applying to college that I started filling out the forms long before school began. I was only applying to one school, my dream school. But before I knew it, the November deadline was upon me, and I still had tons to do before I was ready to press “submit.”

So when I found out that because of technical glitches with the Common App, my school’s early decision deadline was extended — I was ecstatic, but it seems like I was the only one.

Sure, I get why people are upset. Some people’s payments didn’t clear and other people’s teacher recommendations didn’t get submitted, but I think the backlash was a little over dramatic.

I’m more annoyed that the option to submit an essay on the topic of my choice is no longer available. Instead I’m left with ambiguous prompts like, “talk about a personal story your application wouldn’t be complete without.” I also rolled my eyes at the $10 I had to pay just to add pictures of my artwork to the application.

Maybe I should be worried about the glitches, because I’m only submitting one application and if anything goes wrong, it’s all over for me. But instead, I just keep thinking about what my literature teacher told me about college applications on the first day of school.

“You can’t worry about things that are out of your control,” she said. “You’ve already done all the hard work, getting into college is not your problem, it’s the admission officers’ problem. Let them and your parents worry for you.” And worry they do.

When the glitches were exposed, it seemed every news article was full of angry adults raving about the injustice done to their children.

I’ve come to realize that the college application process is a very sacred time for me. I get to feel proud of the work I’ve done, and think about what I want for my future. Instead of freaking out about the glitches, I decided to embrace them as a silver lining. Because between college applications, school work, and being thrown out into the real world in a few months, who needs the extra stress?