Sunday, January 08, 2006
Wants To Be Different
Dear Guidance Guy,
I'm a senior who got accepted into three colleges. One of them is the University of New Hampshire, which is a really good school. The only problem is that a lot of kids from my high school go there. I know it's a really big campus but I don't want to see people I know from high school everywhere. I want a change. The other colleges are private and I really don't have the money to go anywhere else. My parents won't take out a lot of loans.
Should I just deal with going to UNH, or should I try to go somewhere else?
- Want Something New
*****
Dear Want,
I respect your desire to want to go somewhere different from many of your classmates. But the truth is any large college will be a completely new experience for you, no matter how many of your classmates go.
First of all, I don't think all of your classmates are actually going there. But let's suppose 30 of them are. I just checked the freshman enrollment at UNH, and theyhave 2,569 freshman. So most likely they have at least 8000 total undergraduate students. That doesn't count students who are there for masters and doctoral degrees! It's a safe bet there will be at least the same number of freshman for the Class of 2010. 30 out of 2500...that's means 99% of the freshman won'tbe people you know from high school. Do you think you might be able to spend time with people you don't know?
It seems like the real issue is that you want to stand out and make your own mark in the world. You want to be independent and not be thought of the same way you are now in high school. That's totally understandable. The good news is that you have the perfect opportunity to do just that at a large state school. Even if it were a smaller place that other people from your graduating class attended, you'd still have that same chance.
College is a "do-over" for the people who want a fresh start. And for everyone else reading this who's faced with the same choice: remember, it's not what's on the outside, it's what's on the INSIDE that sets you apart!
Enjoy yourself wherever you go,
The Guidance Guy
I'm a senior who got accepted into three colleges. One of them is the University of New Hampshire, which is a really good school. The only problem is that a lot of kids from my high school go there. I know it's a really big campus but I don't want to see people I know from high school everywhere. I want a change. The other colleges are private and I really don't have the money to go anywhere else. My parents won't take out a lot of loans.
Should I just deal with going to UNH, or should I try to go somewhere else?
- Want Something New
*****
Dear Want,
I respect your desire to want to go somewhere different from many of your classmates. But the truth is any large college will be a completely new experience for you, no matter how many of your classmates go.
First of all, I don't think all of your classmates are actually going there. But let's suppose 30 of them are. I just checked the freshman enrollment at UNH, and theyhave 2,569 freshman. So most likely they have at least 8000 total undergraduate students. That doesn't count students who are there for masters and doctoral degrees! It's a safe bet there will be at least the same number of freshman for the Class of 2010. 30 out of 2500...that's means 99% of the freshman won'tbe people you know from high school. Do you think you might be able to spend time with people you don't know?
It seems like the real issue is that you want to stand out and make your own mark in the world. You want to be independent and not be thought of the same way you are now in high school. That's totally understandable. The good news is that you have the perfect opportunity to do just that at a large state school. Even if it were a smaller place that other people from your graduating class attended, you'd still have that same chance.
College is a "do-over" for the people who want a fresh start. And for everyone else reading this who's faced with the same choice: remember, it's not what's on the outside, it's what's on the INSIDE that sets you apart!
Enjoy yourself wherever you go,
The Guidance Guy
