Proximity to home, financial aid offers, majors available, campus size and campus life. Now that senior year is coming to an end, seniors have been taking these into consideration while choosing which school to commit to. Everyone has different priorities when it comes to choosing where to attend, some take certain aspects into consideration more than others. Some care more about where they got the most financial aid from, and some care more about what programs and opportunities a school offers.
Although complications with financial aid applications have caused students to receive aid offers later than in previous years, making it harder to choose a school, most seniors at Middle College High School have committed already.
Senior Bethany Alvarez has already committed to a school: Vanguard University. She will be majoring in psychology and has already received an Associate’s degree from Santa Ana College.
“I committed to Vanguard and I’m also planning to major in psychology. I committed since I actually grew up going to Vanguard’s campus a lot. My mom went to Vanguard for her Masters so in a way it’s nice to follow in her footsteps. I also went to meet the professors there and I also will be able to have a lot of opportunities in my field,” Alvarez said.
VU is a private, four-year Christian university located in Costa Mesa, California. Common majors at VU include business, psychology, kinesiology, and communications.
Sometimes choosing which college or university you want to attend can be difficult, especially if you are stuck between two or more schools. This makes sense, as you are choosing where you will be for the next four years of your educational journey; you want to make sure that you will be happy with where you are and will receive the education you need for where you want to be afterward.
Alvarez professes that choosing a school was somewhat hard, rating the process on a scale of one to five.
“I would say it was about a 3. At first I was really nervous about not making the right choice but then I really thought about it and then I made my decision,” Alvarez said.
Before even choosing what school you want to commit to, you need to apply to some. During the application process, you should think about what type of school you want to go to, where it is located, the size, the programs and majors available, the distance from home, the financial aid offered, etc. It wouldn’t make sense to apply to schools without looking at what is offered, where it is, or what it’s like to attend, so using lists with factors to consider can help you find schools that fit your needs and preferences.
Senior Ruth Garcia will be attending UC San Diego in the fall while majoring in psychology. She shares the main aspects she took into consideration before deciding to accept UCSD’s admission.
“The factors I considered when choosing a school to commit to are the psychology program, the financial aid I receive, and the location,” Garcia said.
UCSD is a public, four-year research university located in San Diego, California. It has a highly ranked psychology program as the fifth best amongst public universities for psychology. The school is relatively close as a car drive takes approximately an hour and a half to get there from Santa Ana.
Some other factors to consider include the cost of attendance for each school, athletics and extracurricular activities, campus life, safety and security, internship opportunities, and career services. However, some aspects don’t matter to some people.
“I also took into account the adventure I would experience, such as being in a new environment so I can grow and be more independent. I did not really take into account the class size, I am fine with either a small or big class size,” Garcia said.
While it can be hard choosing a school, considering the fact that you will be there for the next few years, remember that there are resources available to help you. Doing things such as visiting school campuses, making a list of what factors are most important to you and speaking to counselors and college students or graduates can help as well.
Having already gone through the whole process of college applications and committing to a school, Alvarez shares some advice for the upcoming seniors and underclassmen.
“One of my biggest pieces of advice would be to remember that a rejection isn’t a bad thing. It doesn’t mean that you won’t succeed in your future but it’s simply a redirection. You’ll end up at a place that you belong in and that’s what matters most,” Alvarez said.
