College is a stressful topic for many students, even the underclassmen who are still a few years away from it. This month, the sophomores had their first glimpse into the Ramaz college guidance program. The grade was split into groups and each had a meeting with one of the school’s college advisors. The meeting was mostly question and answer style, with students asking about their transcripts, SAT/ACT prep, and especially how Covid will be impacting the entire process. The meeting was mostly an overview of what colleges are looking for, what students should be doing now, and how they should be planning. Sophomores were also given a brief overview of how their college advisors will be assigned. 

Some students have been concerned about if Covid and the strange schedule have affected the timeline of when students begin to be introduced to the college guidance process. Ramaz students can sometimes get overly concerned about things like college, so many were happy to have a forum in which they could ask their questions. Dr. Honig confirmed that sophomores are “definitely not behind” the usual spot at this time in the school year. In fact, the time that sophomores are introduced to the college process has actually gotten earlier over the years. The College Office is “trying to strike a balance between keeping students informed and hyping up college anxiety and competition.” 

This balance seems to be a hard one to find. One sophomore said she wishes they had started earlier and that she feels “utterly unprepared” for the college applications process, while another said that while the meeting was somewhat helpful, it was too broad and made her start to overthink. Every student is different, and while some like to prepare far in advance, others may feel that starting to talk about it too early just leads to more unnecessary stress. Dr. Honig advised that sophomores should not be worried about college yet, but the main thing that they can do at this point is to make sure they are doing the best they can academically, as well as participating in extracurricular activities that they are passionate about.