Am I Good Enough?
1
A Qualitative Inquiry into the Lived Experiences of
Students applying to College from an Independent
School
Nicole Shaub Cook
Atlanta International School
Ph.D. candidate, UGA
Literature Review
The College Application Process
2
 The process of choosing colleges occurs at a time when young people are
vulnerable to making choices that rely on peer or parent influence
instead of reflecting their own abilities or talents (NACAC, 2009; Roney
& Wolfe, 2000)
 Particular group membership (such as race or socio-economic status)
may increase the stress during this time because of lack of access to
resources or discrimination effects. (Zhang & smith, 2012; ASHE Higher
Education Report, 2007)
 During this period of time, students experience negative emotions such
as loss of control, self-doubt, identity questioning, and fear of transition.
The process also requires an enormous amount of time and financial
resources to complete applications (Killough, et al., 2009)
Literature Review
Adolescent Development
3
 At this time, students face Erikson’s identity crisis, attempting to resolve
the question “Who Am I?”; they also have to answer others’ questions of
“Who Are You?” (Muuss, 1996; Thorne and Shapiro, 2011)
 The twelfth grade year occurs in the middle of “emerging adulthood,”
when students are changing group membership from child to adult.
Students are exploring future hypothetical selves. During this phase,
students learn to accept responsibility, make independent decisions,
control emotions, and achieve financial independence. (Smetana, 2012;
Arnett, 2007, NACAC, 2009)
 Students at this developmental stage are at serious risk of mental health
challenges, including major depression, obstacles to attaining necessary
rites of passage, and stressors about the future, autonomy, peers and
parents (Arnett, 2000, 2007; Seiffge-Krenke, Aunoloa, & Nurmi, 2009)
Literature Review
Coping with Stress in Adolescence
4
 Stress at this developmental period is related to depression (Ostrander,
Weinfurt, &Nay, 1998)
 During this life phase, students are aware of the impact of their
decisions, but still lack the fully-developed identity or responsibility to
handle the stress implicit in these decisions (Hutchinson, et al., 2007)
 Not much research on this developmental phase specifically, but studies
researching other types of stressors. For example, students who work
intensively are at greater risk (Bachman, et al., 2011)
Research Question
5
 What are the mental health challenges
for students undergoing the college
application process?
Conceptual Framework
6
 This phenomenological study seeks to understand the lived experiences
of students undergoing the college application process.

 I used theoretical principles from critical race theory, social justice
theory and feminism, which guide me to seek the authentic voice and
experience of students, who might not always have a voice.
 I also used principles from ecological theory to consider the impact of
environment and systems at this developmental age.
 Through collaboration and phenomenological investigation, I gathered
narratives of this experience from students in order to discover any
mental health challenges that might exist during this developmental
period.
 My study is informed by current research in the fields of adolescent
development and emerging adulthood, the college admissions process,
and stress, coping and resiliency in adolescence.
Researcher Bias
7
 As a counselor currently working with students during the
college application process, I felt that the process posed
many stressors to students’ mental health. I have seen many
of my students have mental health problems through this
period of time, and I felt that I understood their experience
of the process well.
 Before beginning research, I talked with my research team
about my experiences and how those might bias my work. I
also bracketed my researcher bias in order to hear the
experiences of my participants in the most objective way
possible.
Demographics and Types of Data/Sampling
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 Sampling method = purposeful and comprehensive
 I sent an email to all Atlanta International School 12th grade
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students who were aged 18 or older, requesting their
participation. 5 responded.
Types of Data:
1 – Focus Group: 4 participants, 2 male, 2 female, 1
German cultural heritage, 1 Southeast Asian, 1 Middle
Eastern, 1 White Southern United States
2 – Semi-Structured Interview: 1 White female
3 – Unobtrusive: New York Times Blog:
“The Choice” (Dec. – Feb. 2012)
Data Collection and Analysis
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 Step 1: Bracketed researcher assumptions and biases
 Step 2: Facilitated focus group, then transcribed focus
group, reviewed interview questions and revised
recursively.
 Step 3: Facilitated semi-structured interview, then
transcribed interview.
 Step 4: Member-checked all transcripts with
participants, received responses from all.
 Step 5: Gathered hard copy of blog entries for
submission.
Data Analysis
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 Step 1: Process of horizontalization – included coding
all three sets of data, looking for large, nonoverlapping, non-repetitive statements
 Step 2: Reduced these statements into meaning units
 Step 3: Created code book with meaning units,
textural and structural descriptions of each
Interview Questions
Focus Group
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 Tell me about your experience going through the college application process.
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Have any of these experiences included depression, anxiety, or stress?
In terms of stress, what was the application process like for you? (Probe on
answers including mental health distress)
What or who were the biggest challenges for you in the application process?
What or who were the biggest supports for you in the application process?
What would you like others to know about your experience of applying to
college?
What were your needs throughout the application process?
Has going through the process of applying to college taught you anything?
Were there any aspects of your identity that made things more challenging
throughout this process (family income, race, sexual orientation, etc)?
Is there anything I haven’t asked you that is important for you to share with me
or important for me to know?
Interview Questions
Semi-Structured Interview
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 Tell me about your experience going through the
college application process.
 In terms of stress, what was the application process
like for you? (Probe on answers including mental
health distress)
 Tell me about your experience considering future
career paths and how that related to your application
process.
 What was your experience of self-reflection or exploration during this time?
 What, if any, concern about being not good enough
arose for you during this time?
 What or who were the biggest challenges for you in
the application process?
Strategies for Trustworthiness
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 Bracketed researcher bias
 Reflexive journaling
 Research group discussion
 Member checking of transcripts
 Research group coding of transcripts
Finding1:
Questions of Self
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 All participants in this study indicated significant
questions of self throughout the college application
process. However, the types of questions diverged:
 Several times, students mentioned the college
application process as a time of self-exploration, selfreflection, and self-acceptance. For example, one
student said:
 “Well, I needed for me, I know the only reason I was
capable of making a choice was because we had a
break in the middle, so I mean, time yeah, is one
thing, I agree, but in the other I think you need time
to reflect and you don’t only need time to do the
academic things relating to college. I think you just
need time with yourself. Cuz at the end of the day I
Finding 2
Development of Career Identity and Plans
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 In the essence of this experience, students seemed to feel that they must
understand their career plans in order to make a good college choice.
One student commented:
 “Well, I, um, I would say that it was just like really helpful, like, I feel
like I was semi-prepared going into it, I think that really, really helped,
because I didn’t have to start looking at like 4000 or thousands of
colleges there are in the US, I already had like an idea of where I
wanted, what I wanted, the programs that I wanted, um, and I would
just pass on the advice that my parents gave me, which was like, don’t
think about it first about the degree, think first about the career path
you want, because like, college is like four years, but then like, you have
tons of years after that…yeah, all your work life, and so, set yourself
up for a good career, not like a good college experience…Cause it’s like,
high school prepares you for college, then college prepares you to
work, you go out, you get jobs. It’s important that you have all that in
mind.”
Finding 3
Need for Support and Information
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When speaking of their experiences of applying to college, students often seemed overwhelmed
by the tasks ahead and in need of guidance and support to accomplish those tasks. Throughout
the process, students identify sources of support that include peers, parents and school
personnel, but all participants also expressed at least one instance of needing more support or
information than he or she had access to at the time.
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CL: Ummm, (pause) well, uh, I think um just guidance on how to write the essays, because that
was a whole new territory, with financial aid, again, I wasn't very knowledgeable in that area,
so, guidance in that area was needed. Um.
NC: So, you needed some information.
CL: Yeah, information about how to, how to, how to actually like go through the college
process.
NC: Almost, translate?
CL: Exactly, cause, like, yeah, my parents had no idea about the FAFSA and stuff, and they had
no idea what to do, how to do it, so, just, yeah, the actual, step one, step two, step three of any,
of like the general college process.
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“And then my friends were really supportive, like, um, a lot of us, some of us applied to the
same colleges and stuff, so it was just you know, good friends going through the same thing,
and then, and then, you know when I would be like, hey these statistics are really bad, what are
my odds that I’m going to get in, they were also really supportive, so.”
Finding 4
Anxiety, stress, pressure and fear
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Students’ emotions included primarily anxiety, stress, pressure and fear throughout the
interviews and the blog. While each emotion differs slightly in connotation, the researcher
grouped these into one meaning unit as all contain negative emotions that could leave students
vulnerable to mental health challenges.
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Pressure: “It almost seems like a, this is your one shot, sort of thing. So it’s like, don’t screw up
that one shot.”
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Stress: “I don’t know, I kind of think it would have been really helpful if I just had like a giant
white board to just write down all the stuff, because like I feel like I just had it all in my head,
and I was, and it wasn’t, and I think if I had actually written it down and had been able to face
everything down and just look at it all and appreciate it in its entirety instead of it being in my
head, and sort of growing and growing and growing and looking bigger than it was, if I’d had
it on a board or written down, I could’ve, it could’ve it would’ve stayed on the board, it wouldn’t
have just grown and grown and grown and gotten more stressful than it needed to be.”
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Anxiety: “I agree with that. Like, I know where I'm going to school next year because I applied
you know via Early Decision, um, and even like even though like, I know all the statistics and
logistics of, um, the school that I'm going to be attending like there's still a fear, and an
unknown and is this really where you think you're going to belong, is this really the best choice
you could have made? So there's a lot of like anticipation and anxiety a little bit about it.”
Finding 5
Financial Worry
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 Throughout the process, students voiced a tremendous amount of stress
related to financial aid, the cost of tuition, the availability of options
based on their financial means, and other financial factors.
 “Since the prices for college have gone up, I know I will need extra
money to attend these colleges should I get in. My biggest fear is not
receiving financial aid, because financial aid will determine which
school I will attend. I have been searching for scholarships ever since I
finished my applications.”
 “I think the biggest thing though also, or the biggest challenge that I
felt was just having to think about all the financial stuff that comes
with college, and like, you apply to the schools you want to go to, but at
the end of the day like you, there’s like once you know where you got in
and want to go, you still have to make decisions based on the like
financial aid and stuff like that. But I think I like wouldn’t want it to be
a factor that would prevent me from going somewhere.”
Discussion
Findings aligned with previous research
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 Identity development - “ Who am I?” (Muuss,1996)
 Considering different futures for themselves - the transition to adulthood
and changing to adult membership (NACAC, 2009).
 The experiences of the participants in the study echoed Zhang and
Smith’s (2012) findings that some groups are disadvantaged because of
group membership, causing some students to feel more stress than
others depending on social class, race, or family situation.
 Also, students voiced a tremendous amount of concern over finances,
putting to voice the research showing that social class affects college
choice (ASHE,2007).
 Students expressed concerns about the future, identity questioning,
stress, and need of support from others, aligning precisely with the
current research in existence (Killough, et al., 2009; Sieffge-Krenke,
2009).
Discussion
Findings differing from previous research
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 While research cited adolescence as a time of identity versus confusion,
no research has discovered the struggle of adolescents’ in deciding how
to represent themselves, or their struggle with strategic selfrepresentation as it pertains to accomplishing goals.
 No previous research showed in the same way how predominant career
exploration is at this developmental time. Participants in this study felt
that they must make a career choice in order to make a college choice.
 No research had explored the impact of financial worry on students at
this time of life.
 Finally, the study identified an underlying set of stressors – anxiety,
stress, fear and pressure which could leave students vulnerable to mental
health challenges in this very particular time of life; no previous study
had linked the college application process to a particular time of
stressors.
Discussion
Implications for Research
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 Researchers should more closely examine the specific
correlation of the college application process to stressors
that leave students vulnerable to mental health challenges.
 Future research should explore the impact of career identity
development (or lack thereof) on college placement,
 Future research should explore how does the need for
strategic self-representation affect students’ identities when
they are applying to college?
 Finally, additional research is needed to explore how
financial stress or anxiety can leave students vulnerable to
missing college opportunities, or to mental health
challenges.
Discussion
Implications for Practice
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 In keeping with feminist theory principles, practitioners should
collaborate with young people to hear what they are experiencing
during this time.
 Practitioners should hear the experiences of the participants of
this study and provide more resources for students as they
develop both personal and career identity. The more time students
have for self-reflection and understanding, and for making
informed career decisions, the less vulnerable they will be to
negative emotions.
 Practitioners should keep a social justice framework and
remember that financial concerns are a primary factor for
students, trying to provide interventions that assist with that
worry.
 Practitioners should recognize the enormous amount of negative
emotion occurring for students at this time and work to mitigate
those with interventions when possible.
Limitations
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 Used on a homogeneous population (independent
school, Southern)
 Researcher closeness to subjects and location
Conclusion
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 In conclusion, this phenomenological inquiry examined the experiences
of students going through the college application process in order to
understand if the essence of this experience included mental health
challenges. The researcher found that themes discovered in the data
included exploration of identity both in general and in career fields. In
addition, students worry over finances, need for support, and
experiences of negative emotions leave them vulnerable to mental health
challenges at this very crucial juncture in their lives. Thus, researchers
and practitioners should continue to explore factors and interventions
that can mitigate negative impact and create positive coping mechanisms
for the challenges faced at this time. Though the study offers
implications to consider, it also primarily hopes to share the essence of
the experiences of students at this period of time in order to help
scholars better understand their experiences at this developmental stage.
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