For many high school seniors, the months of January and February can be very stressful.

Not only do seniors have to worry about all their school work, but for those looking to go to college many of their application deadlines are due.

The regular decision deadline for most colleges is between the first of January and first of February.

Many colleges also have an early application, which for many students makes all the difference.

Dimond High School Senior Zachary Piscitelli said, “I sent in some of my applications early, but I also have a few deadlines coming up in the next few weeks.

“Not all of my colleges offered the early applications, but the ones that did I took advantage of it. I didn’t want to have all of my applications due at one time.”

Although most colleges have deadlines in the January and February time frame, many also offer applicants an opportunity to apply and get their answer sooner.

November and December is when many early decision applications are due.

Early decision gives applicants the ability to submit their applications and receive an answer from the college much sooner than regular applications.

Also, early decision unlike early action is not binding, applicants do not have to decide which university they would like to attend at that moment.

Not all students apply to multiple schools; many only apply to one.

Dimond High School Senior Merrigan Horn said, “I only applied to one school, Utah State University. Of all the schools I had looked at, that was the only one I was interested in, and I saw no point in applying to anything else.”

Applying to only one school can make the whole process much easier.

With essays, recommendations and miles of questions to complete, the less work that has to be done, the better, especially with all the work many students are already facing with high school.

Colleges want a lot of information on their applicants, and when students have to fill out the same information for multiple colleges it becomes very tedious.

Piscitelli says, “I recommend using the common application. It’s a website where you can fill out one application and send it to multiple schools. It was really a life saver during my application process.”

Along with all the information colleges want, many also want recommendations.

Recommendations are a way for teachers to show another side to their students other than just the academic numbers.

Dimond High School Government teacher Missy Nurmi said, “I write a lot of recommendations and one of the most helpful things for them to do is to fill out one of the forms that you can find in the curriculum office.

“I can’t remember everything about everyone of my students so these forms help me highlight specific things that the students want in their recommendation.”

Although not every college requires recommendations, sending them in will always help paint a better picture of you as a person, not just as a student.

Another important part of the application process is getting transcripts sent out.

Dimond’s registrar Carrie Smith is in charge of sending out all the transcripts from students that requested them.

Smith said, “The end of each semester is when I get the most requests, students want final transcripts and first semester transcripts sent to all their colleges. During the year, once I get a request it takes me a day or two to get them out.”

Waiting until the last minute when it comes to college applications is never a good idea, and the earlier you can finish your applications the better.