The price of getting into college

By Kimiya Aframian and Michael VigmanEveryone dreads the insurmountable costs of college, but we don’t always recognize how much it costs to actually get there, both monetarily and mentally. Not only are there endless fees for AP tests, subject tests, the SAT/ACT, applications, transcript forwarding and other necessities, but there is also a considerable time and mental dedication.Starting freshman year, students strive to maintain a competitive GPA in order to stand out from the crowd. As high school progresses, they only add to this pressure by taking AP classes, their subsequent exams and by pushing for exceptional ACT/SAT scores. Preparation costs can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars on prep books, tutors, workshops and other services. Without financial aid, each SAT with writing is $64.50 and each ACT with writing is $58.50; this does not include late fees or other accommodations that could add another $60 to each test. Statistically, 55 percent of students take these tests multiple times, so these fees are also multiplied per test.This also goes for AP tests. Millions of students purchase specific books for their AP classes well before winter break. For a student enrolled in many of these classes, the costs add up. Additionally, each AP exam is now $98 per test, not including the extra charge for purchasing the exam online. As with the purchasing of preparation books, individuals in multiple AP classes can face great costs just to take a test for all of their AP classes.Now, summers for students looking to make themselves college competitive are no longer for relaxing with friends or traveling. Instead, they are for engaging in extracurriculars that will help build a college-ready resume. From workforce positions to research internships to pricey college summer programs, the days of spending time for yourself are everything but gone. Only after we have built our resumes and pursued meaningful extracurriculars does the college application process finally begin. As juniors looking to begin the college application grind this upcoming summer, we anticipate the long hours of essay brainstorming, self-evaluating our character traits and the near inevitability of time-crunched finalizations. The dread that rising seniors begin to feel writing countless college essays and completing the necessary requirements for the Common Application, not to mention private university applications, is second to none in high school. The thought of seniors being able to kick back is nonexistent and the importance of a work-life balance, more often than not, falls by the wayside. Even for the few who are already guaranteed college acceptance through athletics, the stresses of those around them will rub off and add to their own senior year struggles.