Bloomington High School South, The Gothic, 1999, Page 44

Description:	MPORTANT DECISIONSSeniors consider many factors for choosing a college. by Jessee HahnDefinitelyweigh both thepositive andnegative sides,and you canalmost alwaystrust what yourgut tells you.senior Kate StoneAs a child, onedreams about thefuture: a career,spouse, family,wealth, etc., allobtainable by asnap of thefingers. Once inhigh school, onebegins to realizethese dreamsarent so easy to achieve. Animportant step in reachingchildhood dreams is college.Many factors contribute to theevaluation of a college.Size of the school is a reallybig factor where I go. I dontwant to go to a school as big asIU because even if you knowpeople, you dont really knowanybody because you never seethem. A school where you knowsome people, but there is room tomeet new people is so importantto me, senior Julie Smith said.Academic reputation was also abig influence in my decidingwhere to go because I want to goto a nationally-ranked collegewith students who have highabilities, because you learn fromyour peers.An important factor in mychoice was because the schools Ichose offered scholarships in myarea of ranking and what I wantto do. Theyre also in the lowerhalf of the state, so I can see myfamily often. Tuition is also veryimportant, so thats a big thing,senior Nate Covey said.Most students agreed thatbeginning the college selectionprocess early is key.I started my junior year andeven sort of my sophomore yearbecause a lot of my friends wereolder, and so I sort of wentthrough the process of looking atcolleges when theydid. So I startedthinking aboutwhat I wantedearly, and I thinkthat has helpedme, senior KateStone said.In the middleof my junior year Istarted looking atcolleges because my mom anddad encouraged me to go to thelibrary and look up stuff. I wasalso receiving mail for two yearsbecause after I took the PSAT theysent me all sorts of stuff, Smithsaid.I started my junior yearlooking by getting a book ondifferent colleges and picking outschools that looked interestingand offered what I was lookingfor. Then I wrote to the schools forinformation, senior DanielWilliams.Students offered different typesof advice to peers in the process ofchoosing a school.Definitely weigh both thepositive and negative sides, andyou can almost always trust whatyour gut tells you, Stone said.Start making decisions earlyon because the longer you wait,the harder it is to decide. Also, dosome applying during thesummer because once schoolstarts you wont have any time,Smith said.Dont wait until the lastminute because then you wonthave as many opportunities, andthe schools might overlook youbecause you took so long, Coveysaid.Childhood dreams can becomereality, but the steps students tookand the choices they made playeda huge role in deciding the future.Chemistry studentslisten to Mr. Eric Banlecture. Many collegesexpect students to takethree years of science inhigh school.Senior CarolineCourtney signs seniorChad Sundts yearbookduring trig/pre-calculus. Signingyearbooks was a popularactivity in Septemberwhen the books weredistributed.What is the mostimportant thing toyou when choosinga college?Just a sense that I could live there. I haveto be comfortable there. Its all aboutinstinct, but its the hardest decision Illprobably ever have to make.senior Anne TimberlakeIt depends on what they offer,depending on what I want to do, aschool kind of close to home but not asclose as IU, and a bigger school.senior Matt ThomureIe Spread Design byacademicsRan Soni
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomsouth/id/6050
Collection:	Bloomington High School South

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