Decision Day

CB Seniors recently had to make one of the biggest choices of their lives.

Decision Day. May 1st. The deadline for seniors to declare where they will attend college for the next four years. Seniors have to choose where they will be going by this deadline in order to cement their spot in the freshman class of 2018.

After most college acceptance letters have been mailed to prospective students, students have about a month to decide where to start the next chapter of their respective lives. Many students have awaited this day with eagerness to determine the next stage of their lives.

Both students and faculty members at the school weighed in on what goes into the important decisions on this day.

One of the many seniors at our school who has made her college decision is Halie Hurtado (’14). She believes she was lucky to be able to make up her mind early. “My mom and I went on a trip in November to look at all of the colleges I felt were a good fit, one of those schools being Arizona State University.”

Halie mentions, “A few days into the trip I realized that I felt at home at ASU.” She believes feeling at home, nice weather and adequate dorms, and getting all the classes appropriate to my major are important in choosing the right place.

Christian Brothers junior class and college counselor Ms. Melissa McClellan helps all CB students in planning for the road ahead and making their college decision. In aiding students in their college decision, Ms. McClellan helps with, “making sure the campus is the right fit for them, size, location, the distance from home, does it have the major they are looking for, and cost.”

“I help to make sure they don’t come out of undergraduate school $100,000 in debt so they can go to grad school, or med school, or law school” she added, stressing the importance of finding the right financial aid package.

Help in finding colleges to attend can also be found outside of school. Prestin Barnett (’14) received help through a program called Questbridge.

“Questbridge is a program for low-income students looking to attend high academic schools,” he explained. “I was able to apply to four schools through Questbridge…if I got into any of these four schools, I would be given a four year academic scholarship.”

When I asked what pulled him in to the University of Chicago, Prestin cited the strong economics program, the city of Chicago, and the, “Hogwarts-like campus.”

Whether it be the feeling on the campus or the similarities to Harry Potter’s alma mater, there are many factors which draw students to different schools. But most of all, as Ms. McClellan told me, “it’s most important for the student to go to the right school for them, versus the bumper sticker school.”