As seniors enter the stage of thinking about their futures after high school, they wrestle with the decision of what college or direction best suits their future plans. It can be hard to find the college that best fits what they value and look for in education after high school. Different students decide what they want their college experience to look like, how they will work to get into their dream school and how they can best take that next step in life.
Senior Estella Hughes said it was important to her to look for what schools had the most rigorous programs for her preferred field and major. According to her, she wanted something that fit her preference in size and the surrounding city, to make for the most enjoyable campus life.
“The most important factor for me when applying to college was whether or not the college had a good program for my intended major, mechanical engineering,” Hughes said. “I wanted a small to medium-sized school and a large enough city surrounding me. I wanted to leave campus and find places to go out to eat and interesting things to do while I was at college.”
Senior Emunah Borg said when looking at what colleges were most appealing to her, she valued the communication sent to her from different universities and the colleges that took an interest in her. She said looking at how she could see herself thriving at a specific campus was important and how likely she would be to get accepted.
“I liked the ones that were the nicest in their emails but didn’t send me too much as if they were begging for me to come,” Borg said. “I was interested in the colleges that had a high graduation rate as well as a good acceptance rate. I wanted to see if it would be easy to do good and succeed in those colleges.”
12th grade counselor Heidi Cosgrove said being rejected or deferred from a dream school can be hard and when students work hard for all of high school to make it to that point, it can be heartbreaking to hear that they won’t be attending in the fall. According to her, it’s okay to sit with that disappointment for a while, but this senior class has proven to be very resilient and put one foot in front of the other after hearing that news.
“Just allowing them to feel heart-wrenched is ok because it’s a huge disappointment to get bad news like rejection or to be deferred. It’s okay to sit with that disappointment because it’s real,” Cosgrove said. “The senior class is amazingly resilient. They decide when they find out they’ve been rejected, they are just going to keep going. They decide to throw in more applications and everything like that. Whether they get a full rejection or a deferment, they just keep going and don’t give up.”
According to Hughes, adding more extracurriculars to her resume allows colleges to see how she spends her time so they can get a sense of who she is as a person. She said she found it important to put her biggest achievements and most important activities at the top of her extracurriculars list.
“I added almost every extracurricular I had done in the past four years to my college resume. I felt that even if it was being a member of the rock climbing club, it gave the college a better picture of how I spent my time, but I did put them in order of importance.” Hughes said. “It helped that I participated in a wide range of activities that showed my different interests.”
Borg said while the decision-making process can be stressful when choosing a college, it’s easiest for her to rule out some colleges and pick out the best things from each one to find what might be the best fit for her.
“I apply to all of the colleges that interest me, but I don’t apply to the ones that I didn’t like as much. After applying, I can rule out the ones that didn’t say yes or that didn’t still appeal to what I wanted out of a school. It can be a lot easier to make a decision when you rule out more options and narrow it down to just a few,” Borg said.
According to Cosgrove, students should choose their path based on their voice and choices, not just by word of mouth or following the crowd. She said going with what your friends have chosen is human nature, but she always has prioritized authenticity in the students choosing for themselves.
“I always get nervous when students are picking schools by name because they heard it was a good school… I always ask them where they see their fit,” Cosgrove said. “I’m very protective with my seniors on where their voice comes in. Not their friends, not family, not even their college coach, but their voice. I have them tell me where they are at and what they’re thinking, not just following everyone else.”
Hughes said she’s always striving to find things that best fit her interests and what she would enjoy, not just focusing on what everyone else is doing. She said It’s hard not to look and pay attention to others, but it’s best to realize that the best thing to do is focus on your path.
“I am always searching for activities and classes I genuinely want to be in. It makes me happier in general, helps to prevent burnout and if I start to feel inadequate,” Hughes said. “I remember that I am focusing on things that I love.”
