MV seniors are getting into the midst of college application season.

          How is the Class of ‘26 handling everything, and what do their future plans include?

          Future plans are a large part of this very important time in somebody’s life, guiding where to go and what to do after finishing high school, deciding what the rest of their lives will look like.

         One senior’s plans include a unique goal, “Attend SIUE then become a Zookeeper,” said Bryson Oathout, ‘26. 

          This time can be very stressful for seniors who often have multiple extracurriculars and AP, and college-level classes.

          Even with this, there was a trend of just going with the flow and not specifically managing or planning time, even among the seniors with large workloads.

          One senior shows this in his statement of how he plans to manage his time, “I don’t,” stated Camdin Simpson, ‘26.

          Another senior stated the same thing with, “I don’t,” said Oathout.

          These seniors are in the midst of their college application season, possibly one of the most stressful time periods of their lives.

          The MV seniors will have to decide when they will be applying, some already have.

          One had a plan in mind with when he was going to apply, “Now, the program I want to get into requires me to apply early,” said Simpson. 

          Another senior was more than ready stating “I already did,” said Oathout. 

          There are many different colleges for one to apply to, and a common problem is figuring out how many to apply to.

          One of the seniors jokingly stated how many he would apply to “6 or 7,” said Pierce Keyser, ‘26.

          Many different colleges are available to choose from, both in Illinois and across the country, some want to stay local, some want to go as far away as possible.

          One senior revealed where he would be applying to “Rend Lake and ISU,” said Eli Capps, ‘26.

          Seniors can often be picky when it comes to the criteria of the colleges they are applying to and where they would like to go.

          A senior listed his criteria for the colleges he is applying to and where he wants to go, “If it has good programs for my major, if it is in-state, and if Rendlake credits would transfer,” said Simpson.

          There are many different majors to choose from, everything from medical and engineering to education and communication. 

          One ambitious senior said what he wanted to major in, “Astrophysics and Data Science, I have always been interested in these fields,” said Keyser.

          As you can see many of our seniors are getting into their application process, with some even already being done.