What is the most difficult part when applying for a college?

It really depends on your situation in my opinion.

The hardest part for me about applying was figuring out which colleges I actually wanted to apply to. I didn't have a dream college and had all these options in front of me, even when it was just in-state schools. I didn't know what I wanted to major in, but if you know your major, that helps narrow it down A LOT. Especially if you're looking for schools that have a good program for your major! Collegevine is also super helpful in listing out colleges and having various stats for each college, like costs and financial aid!

For the actual application process, I used CommonApp, which makes it a lot easier to apply to multiple colleges. I was able to write an essay and prepare a resume at the end of my junior year to use! They make the prompts available so you can start prepping early! I'm not sure if it's different when you apply directly through a college's site though. Teacher/Counselor recommendations are relatively painless, as long as you have a good relationship with them! There have even been a couple of people that ask teachers that they've only met during their senior year!

I really hope this helps you out!!!! Good luck!