With early action wrapping up nearly half a month ago, most seniors have secured their applications with their desired colleges.

The college application process is a long and dreary struggle, requiring multiple essays to try to paint the best picture of yourself.

But, for many seniors at Notre Dame Academy, the struggle is over by November.

“To date, 81% of the class of 2020 has already sent in their applications by November 1st,” said Becky Bain, the college counselor here at Notre Dame Academy.

“It can be hard on top of schoolwork, as it’s not for a class, so it’s completely up to you to motivate yourself,” said Ben Smet, a senior at Notre Dame.

Early action doesn’t only decrease your stress levels, but statistically speaking, it increases your chances for admission into college as well.

According to Inside Higher ED, students that apply early action have a 13% better chance to be admitted.

This percentage may increase if the college’s undergraduate enrollment is higher than average, meaning that an early action application could stand out more than it would at smaller schools.

Through the 960 applications already submitted, there have been some similar places that students would like to go.

Unsurprisingly, the University of Wisconsin-Madison tops this list so far.

“I think the reason why a lot of my peers apply there is because it’s a beautiful campus, a very good school, and there’s in-state tuition,” said Cassidy Noble, senior and NHS member at Notre Dame.

The next most popular college was the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. This university is not new to the approval of Notre Dame students as many have attended in the last couple years.

“The reason why I applied, and why I think most people at NDA apply, is because it’s a new, unfamiliar place that’s still relatively close to home and it’s an overall amazing school,” said Parker Olson, a senior at Notre Dame.

The following three top schools are St. Norbert, Marquette University and the University of St. Thomas.

There is diversity within the 2020 class as 41 states (including Hawaii), Canada, and Europe, are all being represented.

Some colleges that seniors applied to this year, that are fairly new compared to years past, are  Berry College (GA), Lynn University (FL), the University of Hartford (CT) and the University of Oxford in England.

“There is even an application going to St. George’s University in Granada, West Indies,” said Ms. Becky Bain, college counselor.

With students moving on to new places within the year, I urge my fellow seniors to cherish the moments, as Tritons, and to talk to someone they have not gotten the chance to yet.

The next major college admissions deadline is the regular decision deadline, which is typically around the beginning of January.