How did it come so quickly? It pounced on us outta nowhere.

If you weren’t aware, the deadline for most schools’ Early Action and Early Decision was November 1st. The stress was palpable on campus.

Early Action means that students get to be placed into two application pools and get their decision much earlier than those who apply regular decision. Early Decision bumps up your chances of getting into the school, but it is legally binding. Basically if you get in, you have no choice but to go.

This due date was horrendous. Seniors’ laptops were being abused by the slamming of the keyboards from students desperately trying to update their activities list hours before the due date.

Many students turned in their application with plenty of time, so they could enjoy Halloween festivities without a worry about their pending applications. Trista Verne ’23 said, “There was no way I was going to be worrying about my LMU application during my Harry Styles concert. I turned it in a week before it was due.”

There were tears, prayers, and frantic trips to the counseling office. November 1st felt like the end of days.

Charlotte Jordan ’23 lamented: “It made the entire month of October feel like I was awaiting my own doom. It was near-hell.”

My own experience with the November 1st deadline was nothing short of sheer terror, torture, self-loathing, and anguish.

I thought my application was fully ready. I went about my Halloween activities with a sense of calm. I pictured myself waking up on November 1st and clicking that pretty little “submit” button without any hiccups.

Turns out I was oh so very wrong. I was missing a whole chunk of my common application. It was my day of reckoning. I spent every waking moment of November 1st frantically trying to add my missing portion, trying to track down my parents to make sure I got their schooling information correct (does anyone actually know what their parents do/where they went to school?)

I got my Early Action applications a mere hour and fifteen minutes before they were due.

It was awful. But it’s over now.

Brace yourself for the January 15th deadline, Royals.