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Senior-year Stress: Here's What Students Say and Do About It

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What did CollegeData users find most stressful about their senior year of high school and what advice do they have for the high school grads of 2025? Here are the results of CollegeData’s 2024 Senior Stress Survey.

If you’re a high school senior, you’re likely well acquainted with stress. In a 2020 Yale University survey of high school students, almost 80 percent said stress was the feeling they experienced most often during a typical school day.

WHY IS SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL SO STRESSFUL?

Senior year can be one of the most stressful times in a student’s life, especially for those applying to college. In addition to juggling school work, family responsibilities, social relationships, jobs, and extracurricular activities, many high school seniors are also navigating an unfamiliar and highly competitive college admissions landscape, figuring out how to finance their education, and making big decisions about their future.

We surveyed* registered users of CollegeData who graduated from high school in 2024 to find out what caused them stress, how stress affected them, and what resources helped them deal with stress.

What Stressed Out Seniors Most?

The biggest senior-year stressors fell into the following areas:

• Applying to college
• Paying for college
• Life balance (managing homework, extracurriculars, family/social life, and college applications
• Class workload/rigor
• Life after graduation

Below is more detail on how students responded within each category.

STRESSOR #1: APPLYING TO COLLEGE

For the third year in a row, the highest percentage of high school seniors we surveyed (47 percent) said applying to college was the most stressful part of senior year. This percentage includes students who said applying to college in general was their biggest stressor (61 percent) as well as students who cited specific aspects of applying to college, namely SAT/ACT tests (11 percent), the overall level of competition for admission (15 percent) and worries about not getting accepted (13 percent).

• “Applying to college felt like constant stress. There were a ton of variables to think about and people never stopped talking about it. It was constant anxiety until results finally came out.”

• “I applied to 16 schools—way more than I could handle—because I was afraid I wouldn’t get in anywhere I wanted to go.”

• “I was comparing myself to my peers which just added to this anxiety that they had a better chance of getting into some schools than I did.”

When we asked students what single aspect of applying to college was the most stressful, the majority of respondents (38 percent) chose college essays.

• “Writing about yourself is stressful because you are trying to define yourself in 300 words, but I believe our experience is so much more than 300 words.” 

• “Some colleges asked for as many as 7 essays and trying to be unique and interesting in my applications was quite the challenge.” 

• “I got mentally sick of having to write about myself. It’s such a tedious and monotonous task, that I began to feel as if I didn’t know who I was writing about, even.”

Application deadlines stressed out 26 percent:

• “I was still editing my Ivy League application essays the day they were due and submitting them a few hours before the deadline.”

• “I felt constantly stressed out as the deadlines crept up on me, but the stress faded as soon as I submitted my final application."

Another 21 percent said completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was their main source of stress. This isn’t surprising considering the rollout of the new, simplified FAFSA form was plagued by delays, technical difficulties and calculation errors. Financial aid information was delivered to colleges months later than usual, delaying financial aid offers and requiring many students to make college decisions without knowing what their financial aid package would look like or to not enroll at all.

• “I was having problems completing my FAFSA, and the idea of not having financial support to pay for college was pretty overwhelming.”
• “Everyone promises that things will work out as long as you fill out the FAFSA, but with all the delays it was looking less and less likely.”
  

Less stressful factors included asking for letters of recommendation (8 percent), doing college research (6 percent) and college interviews (1 percent).

STRESSOR #2: Paying for college

While applying to college brings on plenty of stress, paying for it can be an additional and constant worry for some students, even long before they’ve made their college lists. As reported by the College Board in its 2023-2024 annual survey of colleges, the average annual college budget (including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and personal expenses) averaged $28,840 for students attending in-state public universities and $60,420 for students attending private colleges. These costs spark anxiety for many students and families.

Of the students we surveyed, 21 percent said the most stressful aspect of applying to college was figuring out how to pay for it. Students mentioned the burden of taking on debt, the high cost of attending college out of state, and concerns about not being able to afford the college of their dreams.

• “I have to pay for college on my own so finding a college that was both a good institution and cheap enough that I wouldn't be in debt for the rest of my life was very stressful.”

• “I wasn’t sure if my parents were going to be able to pay for my education because of hard financial times, and I wasn’t sure if my grades were high enough for scholarships.”

• “By far the most stressful thing for me would have to be figuring out how to pay for college. Still to this day, with college only less than a month away, I am still stressed on how I am going to pay for it.”

• “I feel like I don’t know exactly how much money I am going to spend in college on books, food, and other items. I’m not sure if I should just take out a loan to not stress over what I need, but I also don’t want to get into debt my very first year.”

STRESSOR #3: School/Life Balance 

Senior year of high school can be busy enough without applying to college. By senior year, some students have reached top leadership positions in clubs, sports teams, jobs, youth groups, or other activities, and these activities may require a larger time commitment than previous years. As one student explained, “I was the president of three clubs, vice president of one, and a mentor. I also worked 25 hours a week while taking college classes.”

It’s also the last year of high school, and many students want to spend time with their friends and participate in social activities that mark the end of their senior year. “It was very difficult to maintain my social life and my academic focus,” said one student. “I wanted to prioritize school work, but I also was scared of losing all my friends,” added another.

In our survey, about 16 percent of students reported that balancing schoolwork, social life and college apps brought on the most stress.

• “Trying to find time to write applications for the 15 colleges I applied to was very difficult and a completely new type of challenge for me; I wasn't sure how to start applying and had to balance lots of other things at the same time.”

• “I felt a lot of pressure especially in the month of October to do everything. My time felt very limited and I was stretched in multiple areas. It was hard to apply to college and stay up to date with school work and extracurriculars.”

Stressor #4: Class Workload and Rigor

While junior year of high school can be the most rigorous academic year for college-bound students, many high school seniors continue to take demanding Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and honors courses to impress colleges. While just 8 percent of the students we surveyed cited more demanding courses as their biggest source of stress, other surveys site higher percentages. For example, according to Research.com, three quarters (75 percent) of American high school students and half of middle school students described themselves as “often or always feeling stressed” by schoolwork. 

• “I could not keep up with the workload due to the fact that senioritis was in full force and most of the classes were the final higher-level courses offered in a pathway, so they all equally needed a lot of attention that I struggled to give."  
• “I felt like there were not enough hours in the day to complete all of the schoolwork I had to do.”

STRESSOR #5: Life after graduation

High school graduation is generally a time of celebration, but for 5 percent of the students we surveyed, life after high school was their biggest source of stress. This could be because college is unknown, or because they find the looming responsibilities of adulthood a little daunting.

• “The biggest stress for me was the realization that I was growing up and would soon be out in my own and trying to figure out how I was going to manage everything.”

• “I was scared of living alone and not knowing how to do things myself.”
• “Life after graduation stressed me out the most because I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect from college. I also am moving a couple of hours away and am stressed about having to leave my friends and family.”

HOW DID STRESS AFFECT HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS?

Stress can impact students in myriad ways, affecting their academic performance; physical, mental and emotional health and well-being; and social relationships. As one student expressed, “This college application season made me feel like a walking corpse, withered and dried like a baked bell pepper.”

A large percentage of students we surveyed (48 percent) said their mental and emotional state was impacted by the stress of senior year. Some mentioned that the stress made them feel anxious, depressed, or less confident. “All the stress really did affect my mental health because I felt really behind. In a way, everyone else knew what they wanted and why, and I just felt stuck and behind.”

HOW MUCH STRESS ARE HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS FEELING?

We asked students to rate several senior-year stress factors on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being “extremely stressful.” The highest percentage of students (36 percent) rated “paying for college” at level 10, while 34 percent gave the highest rating to “the thought of not getting into your first-choice college.” Another 29 percent gave the highest rating to “competition to get into college.”

How Do high School Seniors Cope with StresS?

Most of our survey respondents reported that they reached out to other people in their lives to help them deal with senior-year stress. Almost 50 percent said they reached out to their friends; 37 percent to their parents or guardians; and 21 percent to a guidance counselor. However, almost 10 percent of survey respondents said they did not talk to anyone about the stress they experienced senior year.

When asked what specific things they did to alleviate their stress, 47 percent of respondents mentioned seeking the advice and support of adults or peers. Students also reported using other stress-busting methods, including listening to music (39 percent), sleeping more (21 percent), exercising more (23 percent) and going online to watch YouTube, check social media or play games (31 percent). Some students (19 percent) eliminated one or more extra-curricular activities to reduce stress.

COLLEGEDATA STUDENTS SHARE THEIR ADVICE FOR COPING WITH SENIOR-YEAR STRESS

Here is some of the advice CollegeData users wanted to share with high school students on handling stress senior year.

• “Try to stay close with the people who love you and remember that this is a small portion of your life.”

• “The college you ultimately attend does not define who you are. There are multiple schools and pathways that can help you achieve success. Be proud of where your journey takes you and seek to make the most out of opportunities wherever you go.”

• “If you don’t get into your dream college, maybe it’s because your dream life is elsewhere.”

• “Experiencing senioritis is a universal thing, so don't feel too pressured about it. Try to push yourself, even the slightest, to finish your tasks, while taking lots of breaks.”

• “Lean on a good support groups. Whether it’s friends, mentors, counselors, talking out your problems is the best solution.”

• “Avoid comparing yourself to others; you are an exceptional applicant in numerous ways, whether you recognize it or not. You have unique qualities to offer these colleges, and if they fail to see your value, it wasn't meant for you.”
• “Senior year will make you feel like you’re at your wits end but while walking across that stage at the end, you’ll realize that it was all worth it.”
• “Always keep in mind that everyone's journey looks different. Success may not come immediately but that doesn't mean it will never happen. Trust the process.”

We hope you’ll keep these survey results, student experiences, and advice in mind as you progress through your senior year of high school. If you are feeling stressed, consider reaching out to friends, family or other adults you know. Remember that stress is a normal human reaction. As these survey results show, if you are feeling stressed out senior year, you are not alone.

*Methodology: Survey results presented in this article were generated from an email survey of CollegeData registered users. The survey was sent to students who graduated high school in 2024. A total of 449 CollegeData registrants completed the survey. Responses were provided anonymously.