By Caitlin Glenn | Staff Writer

College acceptance and rejection letters are beginning to pour in, and national declare day is looming right around the corner. With all the stress involved, many students are dreaming of what it would be like if the process were over and done with. And for some fortunate students on campus, it is.

“I’ve been committed for a while so I knew I was going to Rice, and then I signed on February 5th,” senior Nia Stallings said. “So I already know my roommate and everything for next year and I’ve already met the team from my official visit. I can have everything prepared a lot earlier.”

The result of already knowing where you’re going? A sense of peace.

“It’s definitely less stress than having to wait and hear from a college because you already know where you’re going and you don’t have to worry about it,” senior Sidney Powell, who committed to Texas A&M, said.

“I committed in the summer before school started, so it was like a really big weight off my shoulders,” senior Sarah Fish, committed to Ouachita Baptist University, said. “I didn’t have to worry as much about my grades, and it was just a lot easier because I knew that I had a place to go after high school.”

Despite the relief from stress that early commitment provides, students still have to work hard to be ready for when they leave for college, just like the rest of the students who have the decision ahead of them.

“I think school-wise I’m kind of done,” Caitlin Schwartz, commuted to Sam Houston State University, said, “But soccer-wise I know I still have a lot to do to get there and be able to play.”

There is one negative and potentially devastating effect of early commitment, though: early onset advanced senioritis.

“There’s a lot more senioritis and a lost motive to get anything done,” Powell said.

“My mind is definitely more there than here,” Schwartz said. “Everything I do is for college now- it’s not for high school.”