Once I reached the age of 15, I was met with constant questions from family members. “Are you looking at colleges?” “Do you want to go away or stay home?” “What do you want to study?” “Are you preparing for the SAT?”  These questions only became more frequent the further into high school I got. 

The college admissions process can be daunting. You may have many questions if you have yet to go through it. To provide some insight into this process, I will detail my personal experience applying to colleges and where it led me in this article. 

In the first few months of my Junior year, I had written a ton of political opinion and analysis articles for The Gull. I truly loved writing investigative articles and educating people through my informative pieces. This growing interest led me to consider Journalism and Political Science as my area of study in college. 

I began researching schools with journalism programs, creating a list of schools I wanted to visit. In February of 2021, I went to see my first college, the University of Connecticut. Although I enjoyed my visit, I knew that it was not the environment for me. To me, the college seemed massive and overwhelming. However, visiting this school was necessary for my decision process. Moving forward, I knew that I wanted to attend a medium-sized school — A school that was not too small, but not too big. 

In the Spring of 2021, I visited SUNY New Paltz, located in New Paltz, New York. I wanted to visit a state school, as the affordability was very appealing to me. I did a self-guided tour of the campus and spent the rest of the day exploring all that the town had to offer. SUNY New Paltz was the perfect size for me, and the surrounding area was gorgeous, but I still had more schools to visit. 

I visited a few colleges in two different cities – Boston and Washington DC. In Boston, I visited Suffolk University and Emerson College, and in DC, I saw George Washington University and American University. I expected to like the “city vibe,” but I quickly realized that it was not for me upon visiting Emerson, Suffolk, and George Washington. To some, the appeal of a college in the city is that the city is the campus, but I quickly realized that I wanted an actual campus. American University was in the suburbs of the DC area, so it did have a physical campus. American University was high up on my interest list, so I was excited to take a tour. 

During the summer, I signed up for a virtual interview with an admissions counselor from Washington and Lee University, a small liberal arts college in Virginia with a great journalism program. I researched clubs and organizations that W&L offered and crafted my resume to prepare for the interview. My advice for an interview with an admissions counselor would be to:

• Have at least three extracurricular activities that you can speak about in detail. 
• Visit the college’s website and see what extracurricular activities they offer. This way, you can show demonstrated interest and prove you have done your research on their school. You do not want to go into the interview knowing nothing about the school you want to accept you eventually. 
• Relate your current extracurricular activities to clubs and organizations the school offers. Example: I am the president of The Gull. Before going into the interview, I looked into W&L’s school newspaper. Make it clear to the admissions counselor that you want to continue your involvement on their campus.
• Make a resume. This way, it will be easy to summarize your accomplishments, activities, and work experience. The interviewer may even request a copy of it. 
• Prepare questions for your interviewer. After talking about yourself and answering the questions they have for you, the counselor may ask if you have any questions for them. When you visit the college’s website, generate questions based on what information you take in. 

Once I reached the beginning of my senior year, I had a change of heart. Instead of studying Journalism and Political Science, I found myself interested in Sociology and Psychology. Through preparing to apply for college, I realized I wanted to become a school counselor or career counselor. I discovered that I am very interested in helping people with their academics, post-secondary exploration, and social-emotional learning. I wrote my college essay about how my college process aided my self-discovery. 

Ultimately, I have chosen to attend SUNY New Paltz in the Fall of 2022 as a Sociology major. After visiting again for an official tour in September of 2021, I felt a strong connection to the school. The school is only two hours away from East Rockaway, they have great Sociology and Psychology programs, and it is a very diverse and welcoming campus. The tuition is way more affordable than the private schools I was considering, but I do not feel like I “settled” for a state school. I genuinely believe that SUNY New Paltz is the perfect school for me. My number one priority when picking a school was my happiness. I wanted to ensure that I would thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. 

I have since met many professors and current students from SUNY New Paltz; they have only made me more secure and confident in my decision. I plan to apply for the honors program at SUNY New Paltz and get involved in clubs and organizations on campus. 

After visiting schools all over the east coast, I only applied to two schools, SUNY New Paltz and Ithaca College. However, I am so grateful I could visit and consider many different schools. My college search/application process was crucial in determining what I wanted to do in the future. 

This was only a condensed summary of my search for the perfect college. If any underclassmen or parents have more questions for me, I would be happy to provide more insight into my experience. Feel free to email me at [email protected]