Will, a senior under a pseudonym, opens the Free Application for Federal Student Aid on his computer. Busy with homework, he is grateful to read that filling out the form with his parents’ information should only take 30 minutes. But as he comes to a question requesting his parents’ Social Security numbers, Will realizes that the process may not be as easy as he had hoped. Will’s parents, who immigrated to the United States 20 years earlier, are undocumented, making them ineligible for Social Security. Without this information, he is forced to painstakingly complete the rest of the questions manually based on the information from his parents that he is able to provide. When he finally completes the application, Will attempts to submit it – only to be greeted with an error screen, reporting that his information didn’t meet the requirements for completion. Will’s exasperation turns to dread as he realizes that he may be unable to receive aid for colleges, an outcome that would hinder his ability to access higher education — which he would be the first in his family to access. Will is not the only student who, due to various personal circumstances, has experienced significant challenges in the college application process.

For many Lowell students, college applications are far from a straightforward process. A multitude of factors have transformed the task of applying into a high-stakes, uncertain gamble, a trend that inevitably creates disparities among high school students. The high level of uncertainty regarding the college application and admissions process is compounded by a system which consistently favors students with the highest access to information and resources, leaving others at a disadvantage. Even measures aimed at reducing unfair admissions and increasing equity, such as test-optional and test-blind policies, are widely debated across the nation. On a fundamental level, the college application process has evolved into a difficult-to-navigate gauntlet in which students without the money and familiarity to navigate the process are left with little power to advocate for themselves.

The vast majority of Lowell students plan to attend college after graduating high school. In a survey of 139 students conducted by The Lowell in March 2025, 98.6 percent of respondents said that they planned on applying to college. This trend could be attributed to the projected financial outcomes of individuals who complete higher education. The study What You Make Depends on Where You Live: College Earnings Across States and Metropolitan Areas, authored by Professor John Winters of Iowa State University, measured the national earnings premium in comparison to a high school diploma to be 20 percent higher for an associates degree and 59 percent higher for a bachelor’s degree. According to Adam Tyner, a national research director at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, D.C., it is generally agreed upon that higher education is positively associated with increased financial success. “There are large correlations between getting a college degree and making more money or having other positive life outcomes,” Tyner said. Lowell school counselor Maria Aguirre explains that higher education gives individuals more financial and career freedom later in life. “When you have an education, you’re able to maneuver and transition into other higher paying jobs…whereas it just doesn’t give you that flexibility when you don’t,” Aguirre said. “That’s the long-term implication.” Despite this financial payoff, college education often demands a substantial investment up front, a cost that can create a heavy burden for students and families. Additionally, the path to college applications features many hurdles that can create significant challenges for underprivileged students, who lack the resources available to their peers.

A multitude of factors, including economic status, familial or personal commitments, and immigration status of family members, can negatively impact students’ experiences during the college application process. According to the Los Angeles Times, high school students with undocumented family members can have difficulties submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), as students with immediate family members who immigrated to the United States will likely be less familiar with the form due to lack of prior knowledge on their family’s part. Additionally, students of undocumented parents may be unable to provide certain important pieces of information required during the process, creating additional obstacles for families. In Will’s case, being unable to provide a Social Security number for either of his parents resulted in issues with submitting the rest of his financial aid application, as the form’s automated Data Retrieval Tool could not be used. While this alone should not have made it impossible for Will to submit the form, it created substantial difficulties that took excessive time and effort to navigate, causing Will to miss school for weeks as he repeatedly attended information sessions and attempted to get in contact with someone who could help him solve his problem. “It was super stressful,” Will said. “We met up with professionals that help people fill out the FAFSA, and even they were like, ‘We don’t know what’s going on with your application.'”

Although Will was eventually able to submit the form successfully, two days before the deadline, the process was a major source of anxiety and uncertainty for the weeks that he spent dealing with it. “You fill out the college applications, you put in time for your essays, and then when it comes down to it, you might not even be able to go because you can’t fill out the financial aid – like, I can’t pay for it out of pocket,” Will said. “It felt like I was gonna either not go to college if I didn’t get [FAFSA] filled out, or go to a college that I didn’t really want to go to.”

While the college application process presents a significant challenge to students in every situation, prospective first-generation college students, who will be the first in their family to attend college, face additional obstacles. According to the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), 56 percent of all students in postsecondary education in the U.S. have parents who do not hold bachelor’s degrees. Of the 36.7 percent of respondents to The Lowell‘s survey who reported that they felt that they were at a disadvantage compared to others in the college application process, 43.6 percent listed their family’s educational background as a factor. Aguirre explained that having parents with experience in higher education tends to help students feel more confident in the process, as they have more access to information and support. In addition, she said, parents who attend college often expect and encourage their children to do the same. “In some way it’s been instilled in them, whereas the [first-generation] student hasn’t been growing up hearing what to expect when applying to college,” Aguirre said. “First-gen students have a more difficult path, and need a lot more assistance and understanding.”

Vivienne, a senior under a pseudonym with parents who have not completed higher education in the U.S., experienced challenges while applying to colleges. Vivienne described feeling frustrated that she lacked the resources she needed to guide her as she applied to colleges. “I didn’t know where to start,” she said. “I’m a first-gen American plus a first-gen college [applicant]. I just don’t have a reference, my parents don’t really know anything to help me.” Without family members who had learned from experience with the college applications, she relied on assistance from her peers to help her navigate the process. “I just learned slowly from my friends,” she said.

One anonymous survey respondent also described facing challenges trying to go through the application process without being able to receive assistance from family members. “I wasn’t born in the U.S., I am not as good as other people when it comes to language arts and English skills,” the student wrote. “I also couldn’t get as much support in schoolwork from my family when I [needed] it because my family doesn’t speak English either. They also don’t know much about how college and applications work, so they couldn’t provide me with experience and tips.” Scarlett, a senior under a pseudonym who will be the first in her family attending college, mentioned similar experiences. “There were times where I felt like my parents didn’t set me up well,” she said. “I definitely felt kind of alone.”

Some Lowell students are unable to pursue college freely due to familial commitments or responsibilities in their personal lives. “We have a grandma that’s disabled, and she needs full care,” junior Carlos Urzua said. He explained that he was expected to help provide care after his sister graduated high school. “It’s an external factor that’s difficult to get around,” he said. This is an experience shared by other students at Lowell; 27.1 percent of respondents to The Lowell’s survey reported that personal commitments significantly limited the time they were able to commit to school, extracurricular activities or the college application process. These commitments included helping family members, like in Urzua’s experience, as well as work, household chores, and other activities. According to Urzua, these commitments can impact the amount of time students have to research and apply to colleges, as well as affect where they apply, as proximity to home may be a significant concern for students dealing with familial commitments. Urzua believes that colleges should consider the fact that students may be experiencing unique personal challenges, and take that into account when making admissions decisions. “Other kids also have to take care of family, they might have other family problems, they might have stuff outside that really affects them,” Urzua said.

Many colleges in the U.S. acknowledge the inherent equity concerns within the application process, and have taken steps to address them, although these policies aren’t universally accepted. One way that colleges have attempted to combat this lack of equity is by implementing test-optional application policies, where students can choose whether or not to submit test scores, or test-blind, where scores are not considered. The idea is this will make the need for expensive or time-consuming test-preparation courses unnecessary. However, the effects of these policies have been debated, and some schools will return to requiring standardized test scores from their applicants next year. Discussions around these policies at colleges across the country, including within the University of California system, have led to a debate over how best to encourage equity in college admissions. According to expert Tyner, colleges becoming test-blind or test-optional may not have the intended positive effect. “What they’ve found is that those policies do not appreciably improve equity,” Tyner said.

However, this belief isn’t shared by all. Jojo, a senior under a pseudonym who suffers from a medical condition that impacts his attendance and school performance, believes that test-blindness is a good solution to the potential inequity of using standardized test scores as an isolated metric for intelligence. “I have Crohn’s disease, which is probably the most impactful thing to me personally,” Jojo said. “It affects my GPA as well, which harms my college application.” Jojo described receiving a truancy letter after frequent absences caused by issues related to his condition and frequent scheduled hospital visits. His disease, as well as his struggles with severe test-taking anxiety, negatively impact his performance on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT as he balances things like taking medication with grappling with his anxiety. He argues that colleges should take steps to more equitably judge a student’s potential, with test-optional policies being one way to achieve this. “I think test-blind is better because tests are a very bad way to gauge people’s intelligence,” Jojo said. “It’s good for some people, but for me, I can’t take tests as well as most other people…I have to take prescription medications when I take a test.”

Despite acknowledging both pros and cons to test-optional and test-blind policies, Aguirre agreed with this perspective, adding that standardized tests can pose unique challenges to first-generation students or those already at a disadvantage in the application process. “There’s just so many aspects of the application that you have to do, having to go on a Saturday and [take] a test is another obstacle that a first-generation student would have to navigate,” Aguirre said. “I do think it is a benefit to make it optional for the students, because if that student didn’t take the test and it’s required, then they would automatically not be eligible to even apply to a competitive school.”

Regardless of where Lowell students are in relation to the college application process, it can be a significant source of fear and anxiety. “I would say the application process is overwhelming,” Aguirre said. “It [can be] a lot for students to do on their own, especially without support. It just depends on the ability of the students.” Much of this tension stems from the uncertainty that students feel regarding colleges’ high expectations. This already difficult and overwhelming process of applying to college is only amplified for students dealing with disadvantages such as familial commitments and socioeconomic disparities. While Scarlett struggled throughout her college application process, she was able to persevere by relying on other people and having self-confidence. “What got me through this is advocating for myself,” she said. “You never know what can happen.”