Written by Isaac Villegas, Staff Writer
Read more about a few Poly seniors (Class of 2026) that are currently working through the college application process and what their general thoughts are about it.
As Poly students prepare to move onto the next school semester, many seniors are either already finished or close to finishing a uniquely terrifying experience known as submitting college applications. Working on these is a scary process, but it is important to know that there is an entire community at school struggling together which should hopefully bring some sense of comfort to those who are still in the middle of applying or are planning to apply.
Aubrey Cochran (12) aims to earn a degree that will help her get into her desired career of working with animals. She says her dream school is UC Davis because their animal science program is top ranked in the entire country, which directly correlates with her intended major. Cochran also notes that she can see herself being a student at this university next year not only because it is her dream school, but also since her parents said “they would do anything in their power” to help her be able to attend.
Avery Corrales (12) is extremely determined to attend college with a major in nursing given the fact that she has applied to fifty-one colleges all across the country for this program. She states that currently, her dream school is Stanbridge University because it has a four-year master’s program for nursing, joking that this is possible since the students “don’t get breaks.” Although Corrales has already been accepted into some colleges, she also mentions that one of her greatest challenges in the application process was her relatively low grade point average (GPA). Despite this, she was still able to go through loopholes to lessen this issue.
Luca Garcia Bernasconi (12) intends to major in psychology since he wants to become a psychiatrist in the future. He says that he wants to go to college because he loves learning and growing smarter every day, and he hopes to “use that [gained] knowledge to help others.” A piece of advice that Bernasconi has for students that have not started the college application process yet is to familiarize yourself with how to apply as early as possible in order to prepare oneself as much as possible in advance.
Asia McCullough wishes to go into child development, although her major will most likely show as psychology on application forms. Her dream school is the University of Redlands for many reasons: she has a strong community there because of her church and she knows she can rely on them if she were to move there than if she stayed in Riverside. McCullough also applied to some UC’s, but she admits that writing her personal statements might have been her greatest struggle in the entire application process because “it’s hard to talk about yourself [and] be vulnerable.”
Kathy Navarro is incredibly dedicated and dreams to go into political science to become an immigration lawyer. She states that the University of Miami is her dream school since they have a great law program and also because she loves Florida. Navarro still plans to apply to more universities, but she does make note of the fact that something she wished she had done differently in the UC application process is to “start [her] personal statements sooner and [be] more in depth,” along with also doing as many activities as she could outside of school in order to make note of them on the application when the time came for it.
Isabelle Termath is dead set on attending UC Irvine and majoring in comparative literature for her current desire to become an Italian literature professor. She vocalizes that she always envisioned herself going to college and getting the highest level of education possible from a very young age, which is something she still strives to do. She plans to obtain a master’s degree at the very least, and her piece of advice to those that will apply to college in the future is to apply to early action because “it’s awful” waiting possibly until late March to hear back from some universities.
Applying for college can be a very nerve-wrecking experience, but any fears you may have should not make you second-guess whether or not this life path is for you. If you want to know more information regarding the application process or you would like to have more knowledge on any other aspect of college such as possible life situations or the financial bits, the school counselors have a wealth of insight to aid you in anyway possible. Good luck to everyone!