College Decisions
At the ripe age of 18, students are met with one of the biggest decisions they will ever make in their lifetime: college. Whether or not they choose to continue their education, there are many aspects to consider. Where they want to apply to and attend, what they want to study, where they want to live, and much, much more.
These decisions can be difficult for a number of reasons. For one, adolescents, especially students, have the highest anxiety rate out of any other age demographic. On a more recent level, they’re plagued with the existential dread of a worldwide pandemic. So, picking a college can feel like an impossible task, leaving students overwhelmed and in over their heads. However, there are several places students can begin.
Counselor Maci Wallace has insight on how to minimize the stress of planning a future education.
“Taking those tours, if they can get on campus and see it or else just doing something virtual,” she said. “There are Facebook groups, Instagram and other social media platforms that schools use to reach students.”
Wallace advises that students research schools and majors on their own before making a decision.
“It’s really about students doing some of that research themselves,” she said. “There’s a lot of great resources. Particularly what we recommend to students is a website called UWhelp.”
The financial aspect of college can add additional stress to students. Although it has been debated that college tuition should be free, or at the very least more reasonable, tuition is a major factor when choosing a school for the next four years. Many kids may have the abilities, but not the money, to attend their dream school.
Although it unfairly can be stigmatized, a technical college can also be a great option for kids struggling with money. It can save on tuition while providing great resources and a high quality education. English teacher Brenna McDermot recommends starting at a two year college to help lower tuition costs overall.
“I started out by going to UW-Fond du Lac which is a two year school,” she said. “Because I lived at home and had enough scholarships I did my first two years for free. Then I transferred to UW- Oshkosh for my last two years.”
Scholarships allow students to get money from businesses or the government to pay for their education. While some scholarships are beginning to require an interview rather than a lengthy essay, many are essay based. Despite the time commitment from applying to multiple essay scholarships, it can actually give students a major advantage.
“You should always try to apply because there is a good chance that many people don’t want to put in the effort,” McDermot said. “A lot of people just don’t want to write the essay.”
Another way that students can deal with the financial aspect of college is through AP classes. An AP (or Advanced Placement) class can accumulate college credit to some schools and can lessen the amount of money needed for tuition. Social studies teacher Michael Allen has seen students prosper in college because they decided to take AP classes in high school.
“There are kids that throughout their high school career accumulate 40, 50, 60 college credits,” he said. “You see people, knocking off tens of thousands of dollars in tuition.”
As students become upperclassmen, the pressure to finalize a plan becomes more and more apparent.
“I think so many students feel like they have to know exactly what they are going to do right now,” McDermot, who teaches seniors in Pre College English, said. “That's just putting too much pressure on them. At 18-years-old there is so much they haven’t experienced and they will change their mind.”
The people most affected by the stress of a college decision are the students themselves. Junior Isabella Sylvia knows how many juniors feel about this possible concern.
“I think for juniors we have to give it a lot of thought,” she said. “I’d say 50% of the time before doing something, I think about if it will look good on a college application.”
Though some resources that students are required to use can be annoying and pointless, they also assist a lot of students in deciding what their future may look like.
“When we went on Xello, I actually used it to look at potential colleges and careers that best suit me,” Sylvia said.
Although the idea of life after high school can be an anxiety-inducing subject, there are many great resources in order to assuage those worries. Everyone has to go through these experiences during the later years of high school. However, everyone finds their way eventually, no matter what their life entails.
By Anika Flores
Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue 2
November 1st, 2021