It’s fall time folks. Trees bloom in arrays of oranges, yellows, and reds fit for a painting. Pumpkin-flavored items line every shelf in Trader Joe’s. Halloween (spooky season) arrives, with plastic skeletons and foam headstones lining suburban porches. However, while children stress about their costume, high school seniors stress about something else. Applications. College applications, that is.

Yet as seniors stress over the perfect essay and teacher recommendations, I, a junior, grow curious. Where do most Arapahoe students apply to?

The top twenty universities most applied to by Arapahoe students were as follows:

Colorado State University

University of Colorado – Boulder

Metropolitan State University of Denver

University of Northern Colorado

Colorado School of Mines

University of Denver

Arapahoe Community College

University of Colorado – Colorado Springs

Montana State University – Bozeman

Colorado Mesa University

University of Wyoming

Miami University, Oxford

The University of Arizona

Baylor University

University of Oregon

University of Kansas

University of Washington

Arizona State University

Chapman University

The University of Alabama

(The list can be found under “College Map” in Naviance)

To no surprise, Colorado was home to the most applications, more students possibly preferring to stay in-state for personal or economic reasons. However, second to Colorado, seemed to be nearby or west coast schools. There were no east coast universities among the top applied to, with Miami University in Oxford, OH, serving as the farthest east. Big universities seemed to be a hit, with state schools reigning supreme. However, private universities also presented popularity among applicants, with schools such as Baylor University and Chapman University arising in the top twenty.

Of course, these schools only represent the most applied to. Applications from Arapahoe seniors, in general, are scattered across the nation and the world.