So as the final rounds of college admissions filter in, I wanted to share a few of my experiences at the school I’ve been at for the past two years. It’s a directional state university, where the 25/75 percentile on SAT scores was 400/500, 410/520, and 380/480 (CR, M, W). We serve a large proportion of online students, foreign graduate students, non-traditional students, remedial students, and part-time students.
From some of the posts here on CC about ‘state schools’ and ‘local colleges’, it seems like I should have died. Or something. I’m not quite sure. However, it’s not the end of the world.
But… at this school, I was able to gan the networking connections for a free-lance job my sophomore year. Landed a paying research position by my sophomore year. Got a job on campus with flexible hours second semester freshman year. Got active in the dance department. Built long-lasting conenctions with professors.
Some of that, I’ll grant, was because of the special nature of the program I was in. However, 90% of the opportunities I got, I got because I searched for them and found them independent of any ‘affliation’ with a program on campus. You ask for opportunities, and then you live up to them. And then you go again.
Yes, even at my button-directional, I met people who were accepted into UChicago, the state flagship on a merit full-ride who chose to come to the button-directional for financial reasons. I’ve met people who broke stereotypes. For those who wanted to get involved, the campus as an active culture of service. Professors are happy to work with you one-on-one, and I’ve gone into several professors’ office hours for more than an hour before, shifting from class content to field content to moral/ethical dilemmas in the field.
And for those of you thinking that you will be the only smart one there? That nobody else is worth it? I’ve met non-traditional students who are earth-shatteringly bright, people who are compassionate beyond measure and genuinely happy for you. I’ve met students who work ten times harder than I do and who try, every single day. I’ve met adults who have become invested in my life-- not just in the choices I make in their classroom. And I’ve met intellectual peers (a handful) that I just don’t try keeping up with, because it’s not going to work.
Yes, there are students that aren’t really sure why they’re there. But just like in the real world, don’t focus on them at the exclusion of all else. Take the time to make yourself happy, and find people you fit in with. Find your place on campus, and excel.
For those of you disappointed in your choices for this next year, take a moment and appreciate what you do have. And then go and be ready to learn from others. You’ll learn a lot more about being a person, and along the way, you might pick up a degree.
The opportunities on any campus of higher-education are really limitless, if you are the right kind of person with the right kind of mindset. So go for it. And don’t look back.