As I began my search for colleges, I felt like I was walking aimlessly down a dark hallway. In a country with thousands of colleges, I was lost trying to find the right one. My sister went into the Navy straight out of high school and my parents went to community college, so I had little guidance when it came to visits and applications.
I organized a few college visits my senior year, which is where the search began. I quickly learned that there were endless decisions to make in so little time. “The college application process is more thorough than I could have ever imagined. It’s a lot of information in a short period of time, so you have to soak it up and make decisions fast,” said senior Karah Erickson. I could not keep track of all the deadlines and still find time to apply for scholarships.
For students who want to leave Iowa or have interest in large universities, the school simply does not provide the necessary information. PV gives multiple seminars regarding the Iowa regent schools and their requirements, but they never quite fill in students on the requirements for going out of state.
Until my senior year, I had no idea what a college application looked like. I did not know that it would take hours to fill out or that I might have to have recommendations or essays. I only realized those things once I began applications, and they have deadlines.
If the school had provided me with that information earlier, perhaps I would have begun my search earlier or learned more about the admissions process.
As seniors in high school, we face enough pressure to to do well in the final months of high school. When you add the pressure of figuring out college applications, it is too much. “There’s a lot of pressure on students to maintain their school work and send in their college applications. I am looking at so many schools, and I still have to make a decision,” said senior Macy Beinborn. Pleasant Valley, among other schools, should be doing more to prepare juniors for their future.
There is simply not enough time for a senior in high school to find their future home and decide what they are going to do for the rest of their life. If I had been looking at colleges my junior year, I would not have been limited in my options. By the time I realized what I wanted in a school, most of the applications were closed.
Juniors should be presented with all the decisions they will have to make and given resources to find colleges; it makes the process much smoother. College is a big decision, and students should be thinking about it early in high school.
When looking for a future home, students should consider factors like campus size, student to teacher ratio, housing, meal plans and much more. Once students figure those things out, finding the right college becomes process of elimination.
Some students may not face this problem because their parents attended a big university and understand the process, or they plan to stay in Iowa for college. But if students do not have family to help them, how else are they supposed to understand the process?
College visits certainly helped. I found that visiting colleges was way more informative than researching them online. Visits made me feel more comfortable with my decision to apply and provided me with all of the information regarding the application.
“I visited a few colleges, but none of them were very comforting. When I found the one I really loved, I felt welcomed and at home,” added Erickson. Though not every student can afford visits, they can be very beneficial.
I struggled through the process, but I knew when I found my future home. After months of visits—virtual and real life—I found the school that was the perfect fit for me. It had everything I wanted and more, and I knew it was a place I could prosper.
Many students run into the same problems I did, but the struggle is worth it in the end. I encourage every student to take the time to send in an application they can be confident in and find the campus right for them. When you’ve found your home, you’ll know.
