Choosing a college can be a super hard decision. However, for someone like me who is incredibly indecisive this decision was even harder. I could go on and on about why I chose which college and the experiences that I had but for now I’m going to try and keep it nice and sweet. This post will be all about why I chose the colleges and a little bit about my experiences but I can always do another one on my experiences at each one in more depth! I would like to first say that I am very grateful for my parents for supporting me in every decision I made (even if I did switch schools a few times).
Santa Barbara City College was the first college I decided to attend. Most of high school I always thought I would start off at a city college. I didn’t love school and did not have the grades to get into a good four year that I would actually want to go to. I was a cheerleader all throughout middle school and high school. I loved cheering and really wanted to continue after high school. The tumbling skills that I had were not enough to make a four year team but since I decided I was going to a community college I started to look into their cheer programs. After searching all the nearby community colleges it was clear that SBCC had the best cheer program, now it was just about making the team. Once I made the team the decision to move to SB and attend school there was clear. I honestly really enjoyed going to SBCC and feel like it was a great option right out of high school. My first year I lived across from campus in Santa Barbara and the second year decided to move to Isla Vista for a different vibe. I originally thought after SBCC I would try and attend UCSB but after two years in SB I decided it was time for a change!
Arizona State University was the next school I decided to venture off to! I decided on ASU because I knew I did not want to stay in California for my next school and I had never been to Arizona. It seemed like a fun and new exciting option for college. I visited ASU in the summer before I went with my dad and fell in love with the apartment complex and area I would be living at. I did like the school, however, it was huge! I was very excited for this new adventure at ASU, however, it was not what I hoped for. I only attended ASU for a semester and I get the question all the time, why did I leave? Since ASU is a known party school, many people ask me if I left because I could not keep grades up due to partying, this was not the case at all. The reasons I left ASU was first the weather, I am used to the heat in California but it was never below 100 when I was there and I hated it! The second and main reason was I just did not like the vibe there. I do not want to talk too poorly of this school and people but some of the stereotypes of this college are very true and I simply did not fit in like I had hoped. Lucky for me I was afraid of not 100% liking the school so I had deferred my acceptance to Oregon State in case. After talking to my parents about not loving this very expensive school I was attending, we all decided it was time for me to move on to a new chapter!
Oregon State University was my next and final college I attended! Since high school I always planned on attending OSU. I grew up in oregon and many of childhood friends attended this school. After SBCC, I got into both ASU and OSU and instead of just declining my offer when I decided to go to Arizona, I just deferred the acceptance a term. I did this in case I ended up not liking Arizona, which is exactly what happened. I have always loved Oregon and leaving ASU and coming to OSU seemed like the perfect option for me. My childhood friends were here and also my father lives in Portland so I was able to get in state tuition and able to see my dad more often. My OSU experience for the two and half years I was there was pretty good. Of course there is always the stress of school no matter where you go, but having the friends and family I did here made it so much better. I was able to join a sorority that next fall and made new friendships, as well as keeping those childhood ones that I had. That same year I was able to live with one of my best friends and live down the street from the other. I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed my time at school and why I enjoyed this school much more than the other. However, to keep it short and sweet, this school just fit me the best!
Picking a college can be a very hard and big decision! What I learned from my experiences is that it may take a few tries to find the one that truly fits you. I hope what people take away from this post is that it is okay to realize you may have picked the wrong place and it may be hard to leave but if its not a good fit, its okay to move on. I am grateful that I had all these experiences and that my family supported me through it all!
