It is entirely natural for seniors to worry about college applications, scholarship deadlines, and maintaining their GPA’s – however, the college application season frenzy seems to have somehow spread to the juniors.

Personally, my internet search history is littered with phrases like ‘insert-university-name-here admissions statistics’ and ‘best journalism programs in U.S.’ While some juniors may already know what college they want to go to, others are still tearing their hair out over whether they want to stay in-state, or broaden their horizons by venturing to the West Coast or trying their luck in New York.

After all, the clock is ticking and senior year is ominously approaching, and with it, the faint stench of college applications. For several college-bound students, already preoccupied by AP classes and their various extracurricular activities, college is just another thing to tack onto the list. However, it should not be this way. Juniors should take advantage of this year to fully absorb and enjoy their relatively less stressful lives, before senior year comes and college pressure is really on.

A lot of juniors who have the foresight to already be worrying about colleges and where they are going to spend the next four years after high school, are likely already in classes with difficult or heavy workloads. Instead of spending that time looking through college websites and searching for admissions statistics, they should focus on that physics worksheet or U.S. History test. Take a more productive route and build a solid foundation by focusing on getting good grades and ideal SAT or ACT scores for colleges to look at a year from now. Take advantage of the free time seniors wish they had by hanging out with friends and relaxing.

Those college websites will still be waiting a year from now – until then, relax. Take a deep breath and focus on having a great junior year.