The last official deadline for sending in college applications passed on Dec. 1, leaving the Class of 2013 with nothing to do but await the results.

Director of College Counseling Mr. Rick Ellis said this year’s senior class had a mixed number of students who were proactive with their applications and who procrastinated until the end.

“We have a nice cross section of those who did everything well in advance and some students who were running the deadline a little tight,” he said.

Ellis said this year, students applied to an average of six schools, giving each senior a higher chance of acceptance.

“It makes our job a little easier to make sure that we have good fits–not just random darts that were thrown in the dark,” he said.

Senior Brian Gentry, who applied to eight schools, said the most challenging parts of the process were picking the right schools to apply to and getting all the essays done.

“Narrowing down [college choices] is stressful, but I guess all the essays you have to write take a lot of your time,” he said.

Gentry added that his college counselor, Ms. Kim Lord, helped him craft his college essays.

“Ms. Lord is a pro at cutting down essays,” he said.

Senior Natalie Haschek also finished applying to all four of her schools. She said Ellis, who was her college counselor, was a great support system during the application process, and that whenever she wanted to write something, he would help her reword it in a way that sounded better.

“Mr. Ellis was very helpful in articulating what I was trying to get out,” she said.

Haschek said the application process required a lot of time and effort because every school wants something different from each student, but good advice from a college counselor can make all the difference.

“My application would have been half as good as it actually is, if I didn’t have the help,” Haschek said.