Now that college apps are over, let me tell you one thing: They are utterly annoying. Since competition is high, you are always striving for something better, wishing your test scores are better, or wishing you did better in that one class. The college apps make you reminisce on you past mistakes, creating envy and sorrow in the process. If I could turn back time and restart high school, I would have started my application as a freshman, then I could maximize my acceptance rate.
Future seniors! Here's some advice: Start your college applications early and make sure to perfect those darn essays. When applying to UCs those 4 essays take much more time than you expect. There are going to be some prompts that are easy to write about, such as talents and favorite subjects, but as you start to run out of prompts, you really have to think back into the past. Most of the UC application is remembering the past, so I suggest writing your past achievements before you forget.
College seems interesting: dorms, meeting new people, vast campus, various of clubs and lack of parent control. These factors excite me the most when looking forward to the next year, however, I would miss the past experiences I have and the friends I might lose on the way.
A part of life I suppose...