“College” has been talked about since high school started.
For many, it is the “end goal” after graduation, what students work so hard to get to.
Now that another senior class is going through the building, and the deadline for early action is coming soon (Nov. 1), counselors try to help students make the switch from senior year of high school to freshman year in college a smooth transition.
Though not every student seeks advice from counselors, they provide many opportunities throughout junior and senior year. This can include junior and senior meetings, many presentations during Nest, and workshops throughout summer.
The school counselors recommend starting to look for and tour colleges during their junior year. Even if students don’t always take advantage of these opportunities, school counselor Carla Duevel still advises students to “talk to your parents, because sometimes kids don’t talk to their parents [about college] until senior year.”
Counselors are working around the clock to make sure students are as prepared as possible. But how prepared are the students themselves?
We spoke to a group of senior students that intend to go to a four year college, and asked, “On a scale of 1-10 how prepared for college are you?”
“I started right away, because some private schools opened in July. So I applied to Carroll University in July,” senior Cooper Hoisington said, rating his readiness an 8/10.
His top three colleges are University of Tennessee, Carroll University and UW Lacrosse. “I toured them all in the last year, and those were the best communities, I think.” Cooper plans to major in business analytics and minor in computer science.
Cadence Brennan rated her readiness a 6/10, saying her biggest challenge was, “finding places I wanted to go and finding an area that would suit my personal interests.”
Through the direct admit program, Cadence has decided to go to UW-Stevens Point for political science (major) and Spanish and communications (double minor).
Senior Conor Enright said he was ready to go this summer with the process. He intends to major in Business Management, and minor or dual major in International Business at either Madison, Indiana University or the University of Iowa (his top three).
“I’m feeling like a 10 out of 10 over here,” he said. “I have had all my admissions stuff done for about a month now. I got a jump start. I did all the early action for most schools, so now I’m just waiting.”
Parents/family can play an influential role in a students decision towards after high school plans. Ana Cristescu claims, “Both my parents went to college and got degrees beyond college. They’ve kind of always been my role models: academically and career wise. I always knew I was going to go to college in some way or another. So I’d say they definitely didn’t push me in that direction, but that’s just kind of what I saw.”
Oskar Wiskow, who’s majoring in biology and neuroscience through the U.S. Marines, adds, “My parents didn’t necessarily [have an influence], but a majority of my extended family is or retired military so that kind of played into it. My parents are very supportive so they supported my decision.”
Other advice from seniors:
Ana Cristescu: “Just start one thing at a time… I know it’s pretty daunting, even opening up the common app gives me some anxiety sometimes, but you’re going to feel a lot better once you’re done with it. The sooner you get it done, the more time you can have to enjoy the rest of your senior year.”
Cooper Hoisington: “It really helped me, but I knew kind of what I want to study, so if you can find a place that fits your interests that has those programs you’re interested in, that’s probably the biggest criteria when considering a school.”
Conor Enright: “A great quote from my dad, given to him by his dad, is, ‘What kind of fish do you want to be? What kind of pond do you want to be?’ Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond? Do you want to be a little fish in a big pond?’ To which my great answer was, ‘I want to be a medium sized fish in a large pond.’ … If you’re willing to try new things, leave your options open. Don’t be set in one path, lots of things change. That’s my advice to all the freshmen reading this.”
Kyra Hutchinson: “Don’t stress it, because in the end, it’ll all work out however you want it to. So just do what you want to do right now.”
Oskar Wiskow: “It’s mainly trial and error. You’ll never know entirely what you’re going to be and what you want to do. So you can try things that sound cool and then find out what you like.”
Cadence Brennan: “Don’t stress about it. Do it, but don’t overwhelm yourself with the idea that you have to do it now. You could wait a year if you don’t know yet or if you know what you want to do just do it. Your major can change so don’t stress on picking the right one right now.”
