Applying to college is a stressful process for high school senior seniors. Students are beginning to hear back from colleges, which marks the end of the difficult and frustrating process.

Colleges with rolling admissions evaluate applications as they receive them, rather than evaluating all the applications after a deadline. The average amount of time for rolling admission decisions to release decisions after receiving an application is around four to six weeks. For students applying to at least one rolling admissions, colleges ensure they will receive a response within a short period of time. The rolling admissions process can vary between schools so it’s important to research the process for each school.

Colleges that have rolling admissions include, Arizona State University, University of Pittsburgh, Indiana University, Michigan State University and Pennsylvania State University. For most of these colleges, students can apply to using the Common Application. The Common App is used to apply to more than 800 colleges and universities. Students must specify which application type they are applying, early action, rolling or regular decision. Some colleges offer an early decision submission type to indicate that the college is an applicant’s top choice.

Early action is a submission type offered by colleges where students receive an early response but do not have to commit until the normal reply date. There are deadlines for early action applications that students must submit all their materials by in order to qualify. Regular decision is the normal process students apply under with usually later deadlines than early action.

Senior Drew Rubinstein has been accepted to the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University. Having heard back from two colleges, Rubinstein is feeling relieved that he has been accepted somewhere, and he is glad he finished with his applications. “The college process is really stressful and overwhelming. When I heard back from these schools, it made going to college seem so real, and I know I would be going somewhere,” Rubinstein said.

Senior Jordyn Delo has been accepted to University of Pittsburgh and Indiana University. She applied with the rolling submission to both schools, hearing back a few weeks after she applied. “I applied to both Indiana University and University of Pittsburgh in September and heard back in early October. I’m excited to know that I have options to choose from early in the year,” Delo said.

Senior Ari Glazier has been accepted to Indiana University and the Kelley School of Business at Indiana. Indiana University is one of Glazier’s top choices so he was excited to receive his acceptance. “I heard back from Indiana University a few weeks after I applied, and I heard back from Kelley School of Business two weeks after that. Kelley School of Business is a top business school and I am considering attending so it was nice to hear from them a few weeks after I applied,” Glazier said.

The hard work students put in when applying to college pays off when they hear back from schools. “I started my college applications at the beginning of the summer. When I finished at the end of August and began applying in early September, it was nice to finally be done. As I heard back from colleges it was rewarding knowing I put in the work for a reason,” Delo said.