"With record-shattering numbers of applicants vying for a shrinking number of places at California universities, stress is the word of the day for area seniors."
More than 609,000 students submitted undergraduate applications to the California State University system between Oct. 1 and the Nov. 30 deadline, according to CSU officials. On the final day alone, more than 73,680 applications were received.
The deadline for students applying to the UC system was extended from Monday to 11:59 p.m. Wednesday after the online application system crashed in the final hours.
That breakdown — largely symbolic locally because only 1,500 students statewide were online when it crashed — summed up the worry felt by seniors facing one of the bleakest-ever college application seasons.