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FAQs
By Ana | September 27, 2011
It’s that time of year–fall’s finally here (yessss!) and that means high school seniors around the country are scrambling to get their applications in to colleges, visiting said colleges, and looking for scholarships.
A friend of mine is a University Ambassador, which means she gives campus tours to prospective students and their parents. She gets dozens of questions a tour, and I’m guessing they’re the same questions she heard the day before. And the way I see it, since prospective students and their parents read our blogs here, they probably have some similar questions. Anthony recently wrote a great post, “Awkward Questions I Get Asked About Ohio State, (undergrad.osu.edu/Buckeyes_Blog/?p=2059) and so I thought I’d throw in my two cents. Here’s one big questions I’ve been asked:
Why did you choose Ohio State?
Honestly, there are a lot of reasons I picked OSU:
Location: I always wanted to go to school in a large city. I didn’t want the school to be the only thing the town had going for it, like it is with a lot of small schools. I love that there’s always something to do in Columbus, whether it be a concert, a hockey game, or a fun new restaurant. I also didn’t really want to be so far away from my family that I couldn’t be with them if there was an emergency or something, and 2 hours is a very manageable drive.
Academics: I wanted there to be an Honors Program and honors classes in a variety of areas. OSU has that covered–it’s one of the top public universities in the nation, if not the world. It’s really important to me that OSU has so much to offer academically–there are dozens and dozens of majors and minors to choose from. I can study a million and one different things, and if you change your mind about your major, you don’t have to transfer, because it’s all here, from Medieval and Renaissance Studies to Molecular Genetics.
Size: I also really wanted to go to a large school–and with around 60,000 students, OSU has that definitely covered! I didn’t want it to be like high school, where you know every single person and they know everything about you and you can’t walk out your front door in peace and quiet. I see tons of friends and people I know on campus every day, and I love that. But at the same time, what about those people from high school that I didn’t really like who also go to OSU? Frankly, I hardly see them, if ever. And what I love most of all is that there are always tons of new people to meet, no matter where I go around campus.
At the same time, there are some things that didn’t influence my decision attend OSU:
Sports: If you’ve read any of my other posts, you can probably tell I really enjoy a variety of sports. And I love attending OSU sporting events like baseball and hockey. But as great at our football team is, they had no bearing on my choice to be a Buckeye. (I actually don’t even have tickets to the games. I’d more of the type to kick back at a friend’s house with a pizza, wings, and a big-screen TV.)
Public vs. Private: Going to a public university or a private university made absolutely zero difference to me. However, I didn’t want to financially overburden myself or my parents with my choice of college, and so I was relieved to hear shortly after being accepted that I had been awarded a scholarship at Ohio State!
Friends: I don’t think you can say this enough, or hear it enough–do NOT go wherever your friends or boyfriend or girlfriend or whoever is going. Don’t, don’t, don’t do it. (It’s extremely unlikely that your high school relationship will outlast your college career anyway!) I have close friends at schools throughout the country, and we’re all still close despite the distance. If you were truly friends to begin with, you’ll remain friends now. You need to go to the right school for you. You owe that to yourself, and you should never be made to feel bad or feel guilty for not following friends or significant others. It’s YOUR life!
Hope you found this helpful, enlightening, educational, all of the above….and good luck with your search!
And right now, it’s also my bedtime. 9 am class awaits!
Topics: Advice, Ana, Student Life, The Future, Why Ohio State? | No Comments »
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