The start of November marks the end of the early application period. Out of 481 students in the senior class, around 154 seniors applied early to private universities this year—a 35 percent increase from 114 early applications last year. As a result, guidance counselors and teachers had to write more recommendations in a two-month period.

“Across the spectrum, none of the counselors have low numbers,” guidance counselor Linda Kirsch said. “We’re all pushing at around the 30s mark, and some of us are already close to 40. People appear to be going early for sure this year.”

Principal Noreen Likins attributed part of the increase in early applicants to the financial troubles in the Universities of California (UCs). “More students are scared about the UC cutbacks,” Likins said. “They are admitting more out-of-state students, and also many students are choosing to [apply early] because knowing where you stand early takes that stress away.”

Compared to the Class of 2009, the proportionate number of seniors who applied early increased by 7 percent. According to Registrar Tracy Douglas, students are applying to an average of eight to 10 private universities and out-of-state publics. This does not include the additional UCs or California state schools they may also apply to.

“Ivy leagues are popular,” Douglas said. “But lesser known schools were also chosen, which was nice to see.”

With so many students applying early, however, teachers and counselors must write more letters before the early application deadline, usually Nov. 1. “It puts more pressure on the guidance counselors,” Likins said.

Guidance counselor Jovi Johnston wrote 32 early letters of recommendation, which is double the number of letters she wrote last year. At home, she writes at most two letters a day. “You want to be able to give your attention to each packet, and I think if you try to do too many by the end of the day you can get burned out,” Johnston said. Because not all colleges use the Common Application, filling out the individual forms for each school can take much longer. Johnston said that it could double or triple the amount of time spent depending on the number of forms needed.

In addition, counselors make an effort to see all the seniors who are applying early for their senior conference before the deadline. All seniors have their conferences before mid-November. “Due to the volume of early requests, many of us have had to do evening and weekend writing time to be sure we can meet the deadlines and not overwhelm the registrar,” Kirsch said. “She has a lot of work she needs to do to complete the mailing.”

Some counselors choose to write at school and will put up a “Do not disturb” sign. Kirsch prefers to write at home. “Usually I tell my family, ‘Think of me like the tax people. You don’t bother me during my writing season.’ It starts September, October and runs through November. I start breathing Dec. 1,” she said.

Douglas also mentioned that there are always students who decide to apply early at the last minute. When this happens, Gunn cannot ensure that the college will receive information from Gunn by the deadline. “When students make our deadlines, we are committed to getting their envelopes mailed out on time. But if they don’t make our guidelines, there’s no guarantee,” she said.

Advanced Placement Biology teacher Katherine Moser wrote 23 early application recommendations this year. “It really jumped up this year,” Moser said. “By the eighth day of school, I could not take any more recs. I had to turn away 10 students, and I have never had that happen.” Moser believes that applying early is not necessarily wise. “I think people need to chill,” she said. “It is not easier to get in early, and students are trading off a thoughtful application.”

Gunn offers teachers a day off or a stipend for every 10 letters of recommendation they write. Moser estimates that it takes her three hours per student to write, sort and mail the recommendations out. “It cuts into free time,” Moser said. “I don’t make quilts during this time of year.” In addition, Moser said that she uses up an entire black printing cartridge each year and goes through about $30 of postage.

Likins noted that teachers are not obliged to write recommendations. Some teachers have a quota on the number of letters they will write. “They’re trying to teach a class and prep [for it], and they still must make time to do their letters of recommendations,” Kirsch said.

Next year, Gunn plans to have juniors start on the college application process earlier so that the first few months of their senior year can be more manageable for themselves as well as for teachers and counselors. According to Likins, students often ask teachers who taught them in Advanced Placement or other classes during junior year, but it’s perfectly fine to ask teachers from sophomore year.

On the other side of the spectrum, U.S. History teacher John Fredrich has not written letters of recommendation for the past two years. “I basically stopped writing them when I didn’t get any feedback from the students for whom I was writing them,” Fredrich said. “So I had no idea if [the letters] were effective or not. It’s something that’s grown over the years to the point that I was operating in a vacuum. I didn’t hear from anybody.”

Fredrich encourages students to stay in touch and get back to teachers on their results in the spring so they have some feedback. “I have copies of every recommendation that I ever wrote, but I do not have the data about which [students] got in,” he said

Moser advised students to be courteous throughout the whole process. “Students have to realize this is a favor that teachers do for them—an act of love—and they should be nice,” she said. “If you want to give thanks, for me, it’s dark chocolate only.”