The college application process has been quite the rollercoaster. If I had one piece of advice It would probably be just to start as early as possible. I'm sure everyone says this, but there's a reason this advice is as popular as it is: it is good advice. The process feels really daunting at first, but if you break it down and just take it one step at a time you find it isn't as bad as it seems. You don't even have to start your essays early, but just knowing what schools and majors you want to apply to, what supplementals and essays you'll have to write, and other things like that will serve you well in the future. Make a plan for when and how you'll finish everything you need, and all of a sudden applying to college just feels like a long term project instead of a sprint to get everything in. I did not do most of these things, and regret it deeply. My friends who did do these things breezed through the application process while I struggled.
The thing that most excites me about going to college is all the new experiences I'll be able to have. Making all the new friends I made and getting to try all the fun new things I got to try was my favorite part about high school, so I can only imagine that it'll be amplified in college.
Oftentimes during the application process I felt buried.