What They Don’t Tell You About Choosing A College
As with everything, the college admissions process is often overly romanticized in modern media. We’ve watched it all — Rory Gilmore jabbering on about Yale, stereotypical jock Noah Flynn somehow making his way to Harvard in the “Kissing Booth,” or Laura Jean from “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” dramatically flip-flopping between Berkley and NYU. Much of the media we consume about this process makes it seem like we’re supposed to just step onto a impeccably manicured campus and just “feel it,” that instant feeling of knowing that this is the school we belong at.
In reality, making a college decision is more complicated than just getting the ‘this is it” feeling. If you’re struggling to figure out where you belong for the next four years, you’re not alone. Here are some tips I wish I knew before beginning my college decision process.
1. That ‘’it’’ feeling you get on a campus might not last forever.
The point of college tours is to win you over, so it’s not a surprise if you find yourself feeling wooed after only a 30-minute walking tour of the campus. While you do spend most of your time on-campus, especially as a freshman, there’s more that needs to be considered. For example, going immediately off-campus the day that you tour a school can give you a good idea of what the vibe is like outside of the school.
Some students may prefer a school in the city while others prefer the quintessential college town. If you're in the latter category, take the time to make sure that there will actually be things to do outside your university. Unless studying in the library is all you plan to do during your four years, you should probably try to see if the overall environment fits you and your lifestyle.
2. How POC are treated on campus can be a deciding factor.
Obviously if you are a POC applying to a PWI, a school’s diversity statistics might be one of the first things you research. However, the numbers can’t tell you everything. There are schools with diversity on paper, but that are still majorly lacking when it comes to inclusion practices.
In order to get a feel for what the culture on campus is really like, make sure to reach out to students who currently attend the university, and not just rely on the college’s statistics or online Reddit threads. I know this may seem daunting if you're first-generation like me and feel like you don’t have anyone to relate to in the college experience, but try using the internet to your disposal. When I was deciding on my top school, I shamelessly direct-messaged nearly 10 Black female Syracuse students on Instagram so that I could get a read on what the campus’s culture was really like.
It’s also worth researching what kind of cultural organizations exist at the colleges you’re looking at, whether that’s historically black Greek life, like the Divine Nine, or career-focused cultural organizations, such as pre-med or pre-law clubs specifically for POC.
3. Financial literacy is half the battle.
Financial literacy is something I had no concept of before applying to colleges. For many students, the college application cycle is the first time we have to make major life decisions that have real financial implications, which can seem daunting to a 17-year old.
Prior to making a decision, make sure to have honest conversations with your guidance counselor, family, and yourself about how much you’re willing to spend on a four-year degree. The student loan crisis in the US is staggering, especially for people of color. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 86.6% of Black students borrow federal loans to attend college, as opposed to 59.9% of their white counterparts.
When deciding on a college, it is crucial to explore how exactly you’re going to pay for your degree and to make the decision that is least going to set you back financially.
4. There’s no such thing as a perfect fit.
I know this seems cynical, but it’s the truth. As with every decision, the college decision process involves compromises. There are so many factors — academic programs, the social scene, location, school spirit, and more. A school can have the exact major you want, an incredible party scene, but be in an area of the country you don’t want to live in. A school can have a diverse student body and amazing programs, but a social scene that revolves around Greek life. No one school is perfect on all fronts, even if they pretend to be. If you go into your college decision knowing that there will be compromises along the way, you’ll have a much easier time making your decision.
Written by Isabel Bekele
Header photo by Pixabay on Pexels
