Decisions, Decisions: What goes into a senior’s Future Vision?
By Ryan Schwertfeger
Most seniors around this time of the year, at Indian Hills, Ramapo, and across the country, are finally taking a deep breath examining their options and their acceptances, and finally choosing the place of higher education that will lead them into the adult world.
In the United States alone, there are about 4,500 “degree-granting institutions” according to the National Center for Education Statistics, meaning seniors have plenty of options to consider in determining where they will choose to go to school. Among those almost 4,500 schools, there are several colleges and universities that have good name recognition and have won outstanding awards, but after talking to some seniors at Indian Hills High School, it seems they have other, more important factors when making their final decision.
One senior told me that in his school search, he wanted to choose a smaller school that preferably was affiliated with the Christian church, with the idea that he could get a quality education, receive more attention from the college’s staff, all while attending a school that was supportive of his religious beliefs. Another senior expressed that she wanted to choose a school close to home “to save some money for my future after college”.
Some that I spoke to did not care about the distance or the all-around environment of the school, but mainly if the school was good at teaching the field they want to enter. Senior Danielle Albilia told me that she is basing her college decision “on whether or not the schools have a five year masters program for the occupational therapy”. Melanie Lewis expressed that her main focus was to find out the “value of the education I was going to get” at each of the schools she was considering.
Just about every senior I spoke to listed campus life as one of the most important factors in making their decision. One senior said how he always picks up the student newspaper to see what events happened at the school, what students are thinking, and what the administration is planning to do next. Another told me how she went out of her way to greet passers-by at colleges she visited to see how friendly they were to complete strangers.
Especially in this poor economy, several students I spoke to were also looking at schools that made more financial sense to them. Some seniors told me they were planning on attending schools in New Jersey, as tuition rates are less for state residents attending schools in their home state. Others, like senior Christian Chiu, expressed how he was taking the cost of college into account by considering how much schools gave him in scholarship money. Another senior had a very similar response to Chiu but added a twist saying that he felt “the more money the school offers me, the more that the school wants me. If the school wants me, they must think I’d fit in well to their school and their program”.
After examining the different responses I received, the trend seems to be that seniors are looking more at small to midsized schools, schools that aren’t extremely expensive, and schools that are known for the field that the senior wants to enter. While many seniors and parents alike may balk at the idea of going to a small school, going to a smaller school does make overall sense to many people in the short and long term. Financially, smaller schools usually cost less than larger schools (unless you are attending an in-state school); meaning less money is spent on tuition and on student loans and more money stays in the student’s pocket. Even if that student needs a loan, the student would be able to pay off their loan and be free of debt much quicker than their peers. According to an article on usnews.com, smaller schools are also better as they have smaller classes, all teaching is done by professors, and students have more one-on-one opportunity to interact with their professors, among others.
However, on that same list is also “you get the feeling that you count”, which is much harder to come by today as everyone is living busy lives in a continuous hustle and bustle world. As the job market still is struggling to come back, employers are looking for young people who are very experienced in the field they wish to enter and have something unique and special to offer that the other job candidates just do not. This message seems to be getting to the high school level as more seniors are opting for the cheaper and more opportunity filled smaller schools than the very expensive and overly competitive larger schools.