As their final semester comes to a close, the class of 2024 is beginning to commit to colleges and prepare for their next four years.

As Barstow seniors head into the new semester, the class of 2024 has finally reached their graduating year. What may have once seemed like a far away, unfeasible dream is now a fast approaching reality. The winter season has been full of busy days riddled with essay writing, application submitting, and stressfully checking college websites. While applications are winding down and many seniors begin to relax a little, the restless wait for acceptances is far from over. 

A few seniors have already made their commitments, however, with rolling admissions and early decision acceptances. Many seniors have committed to University of Kansas and K-State throughout the semester, and with the influx of early decisions from colleges, a few more seniors have made their decisions

Lasya Maganti ‘24 experienced a stressful past semester this year, putting in several hours on multiple essays and supplementals and devoting much of her time to the stressful, tedious process of submitting applications. 

However, all her work paid off when Maganti was accepted to Washington University in St. Louis. “I’m really happy with it,” Maganti said. “Wash U is a really good school and it’s only four hours away from home.” Maganti is excited to begin next year, especially as Wash U is renowned as one of the most beautiful campuses in America. “It’s a really nice campus, really nice dorms, really nice food,” said Maganti. 

Similarly, another Barstow senior has committed early decision. Amara Patel ‘24 is attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois next year. Patel first visited Northwestern back in her sophomore year. “I really liked the campus,” Patel said. “I was looking into what they have for my specific major, and they had this specific program for what I wanted to do, so I think that was one of the biggest reasons why I chose to do early decision.”

 Patel will be studying mathematics and social sciences, and is still in the process of applying to some more programs. “It’s just applying math to other social sciences like political science or psychology or economics or something,” said Patel. With an eight hour drive to Evanston, Patel will be far from home next year. 

However, many Barstow seniors have chosen to stay close to home, taking advantage of Kansas and Missouri’s wonderful state schools. University of Kansas, University of Missouri, and Kansas State University are all great options. James Knoflicek ‘24 recently committed to the University of Kansas. “I’m really happy with my choice to go to KU,” said Knoflicek. “It had everything I wanted so it was the obvious choice.” 

Not all seniors have committed quite yet, and many are currently writing and waiting for applications. “I just finished submitting my last application to Stanford University. It was really fun and I’m glad to be done,” said Avani Lakkireddy ‘24, who is still waiting to get back her decisions. “It feels really good to be done, but I’m still really nervous whenever I think about opening my decisions. I just try to keep it out of my mind, and what happens will happen.” 

Now that college season is coming to a close, many seniors can be much more relaxed. “It’s really nice, now I can do whatever I want,” said Maganti. Knoflicek has also been able to let go of college worries, as he committed to KU early.  “I’ve been done since September, so it feels really nice to not have to worry about that,” Knoflicek said. 

Thanks to social media, college students are able to meet future classmates and roommates on Instagram pages, and many Barstow students have been able to follow and connect with many of their future fellow peers. “Seems like a lot of cool people are gonna go there,” said Maganti after checking out the Wash U 2028 page. 

In the coming months, Barstow seniors will finally decide where they’re going and end the lengthy process of college applications. The Barstow Class of 2024 instagram page posts updates on seniors’ decisions. An exciting last semester lies ahead as the class of 2024 looks to the future.