It’s Thanksgiving Break. You’re at your distant cousins house and everyone is telling you how much you’ve grown. But then, they roll out with the same question after greetings have ended: Where are you going to college?

Then you think “I’m just trying to figure out how to pass trigonometry, college seems like so far away.”

And you’d be right, but so are your counselors. They suggest to get it out of the way to focus on having a great senior year. If all of that still sounds intimidating to you then here are my helpful ways to break down the long process of applying to colleges:

Don’t Push it Off

Deadlines are ways to stress yourself out but also give you a way to procrastinate. According to Harvard University Admissions, you’ll find yourself less stressed by grinding through it quickly.

“I’ve found front-loading to be a good idea for a lot of other things too, like homework, responding to emails, planning events, etc. By front-loading you’ll be less stressed about deadlines and this way you can be sure that your application is exactly how you want it by the time you hit the submit button,” Harvard University Admissions Counselors said.

It is easy to not do the work, but it’s better to get ahead than it is to get behind.

Keep it Organized. All of it.

If it’s one or 100 schools you’d like to apply to, there is going to be a lot of things floating around that will be needed.

“List all your schools, the deadlines, whether they need test scores, how many recommendations they require, (if) they use the Common Application, and (if) they require supplemental materials,” college admissions consultant Jodi Rosenshein Atkintells said to Teen Vogue.

Using application, like Google Drive, helps keep all things in one place and can be easily accessed anywhere.

Sealing the Deal

Once you’ve achieved the long process of gathering information, you have to actually submit.
Whether it’s through The Common Application or mailing one in, things take time to process.

According to The College Board, fill out things weeks before deadlines and make sure to check for confirmation emails or letters about your application.

Trust me, I’m just as stressed as you are but keep cool and also enjoy senior year.