My College Decision

At the beginning of this year, I did not know where I wanted to go to college or even what I wanted to major in. Eventually, I at least figured out that I wanted to major in: Journalism with a concentration in Public Relations which helped me decide where I should apply to.

In the end, I ended up applying to Indiana University (IU), Purdue University, IUPUI, and the University of North Carolina. I also considered Ball State University, but removed my application from consideration after visiting the campus and not feeling like it was a place I wanted to attend college. 

Through the fall months, I took trips to visit both Indiana and Purdue universities. I first went to Purdue, which I had visited many times for football games, and as I walked around areas of campus that I had never been to, I could see myself going to school there. I liked it so much that it was my top pick for schools for the majority of the fall. 

I then began to research all of the colleges that I applied to more closely and I started to get really interested in IU. The more I learned about it, the more I wanted to go there. I learned that they had the best program for my major and that they also had loads of organizations that sounded interesting to me. Then my college visit for IU came up and I fell in love with the campus even more than I fell in love with everything else I had learned about it in the previous weeks. The campus was absolutely beautiful when I went, as the leaves had turned fall colors, but had not fallen all the way. When I used to think of IU, I thought it was too much of a party school and that I would not want to go there, but there are so many programs and other things about it than just the parties.

After I got home from the visit to IU I tried to step back and examine how I felt about it compared to the other colleges that I was looking at. It was better in all of the aspects that were more important to me, but even without that, it seemed like I had already made my mind up and chose IU. I then made my decision official in early January by submitting my intent to enroll.

I was accepted into my major’s specific school so I will be able to declare my major and start taking major-specific courses during my freshman year if I want. Additionally, I was accepted into Hutton Honors College which logistically is just a tiny mark on a diploma that does not usually mean much to employers after college. Although, I am excited to join it because it allows me to take smaller, seminar-based classes on interesting topics that are not open to students not in the honors college. 

Even though I started the year lost and confused about where and what I wanted to do in college, I now have made choices and am confident in them.