On May 21, College Decision Day was set among all students internationally and in New York state. This year, most seniors were filled with fulfillment and excitement as they announced their enrollment as well as hearing their peers or friends’ enrollment.
Graduating seniors are eager to continue their academic careers after high school and are proud of themselves to achieve success, enjoying the little time they have left as highschool students.
When asked about Decision Day, many seniors were excited about a day they get to spend with all of their peers.
Senior Nasly Peralta said, “I’m kind of sad, but at the same time happy. Like, I’m very proud of myself and all of our seniors that we made it this far.”
Senior Ceveen Saad also said, “I feel like I’m in fifth grade again, saying goodbye to everyone, signing everyone’s T-shirts and yearbooks. It’s a good and bittersweet memory, but I can’t wait to start this new chapter.”
Decision Day brought joy to seniors, but it wasn’t simple getting to this point. Usually, Decision Day is on May 1st, but this year it was delayed because of problems with FAFSA.
Changes to the online FAFSA platform delayed colleges from getting income information from students’ families. Colleges couldn’t calculate financial aid packages to students. This caused many students to delay their acceptance decision and some still do not have financial aid information.
Some students were greatly affected by the FAFSA delay or were not affected by the changes of FAFSA but still found difficulty with the new system.
Peralta’s out of state colleges did not receive FAFSA information, so she ended up having to take a CUNY, which wasn’t her first choice. Peralta said that “due to their delays, I had to go to a CUNY. But I’m very happy about my decision.”
Serenity Seda faced other challenges because of FAFSA: “I had to fix it and edit it multiple times. So, I honestly didn’t get it done until March.” Usually students finish the FAFSA by December or January. Seda said, “It was just weird.”
There were many challenges Seda had to face while completing her FAFSA. It wasn’t only her, however. Many other seniors had to face challenges just like Seda. Some seniors were able to attend a CUNY, SUNY, or out of state college. Unfortunately, not everyone was able to attend their dream college.
