‘Tis the Season… to Visit Colleges

When the stars align perfectly and the moon is fully evolved, and between the months of September and December, it is College Visit season. Seniors enter panic mode as they begin signing up for college visits.  Other seniors visit  older friends for a weekend to live the college life. In the end, their goals are the same: to find a college that suits their desires. I interviewed four college-bound seniors to see how they are coping with the reason for the season. 

Patrick Yun, a senior in Leonia High School, visited Moustafa Abdelaziz (’15) at Northwestern. Patrick described his experience as “unimaginable.” When he arrived Friday afternoon, he immediately started to walk to Moustafa’s dorm room. It was there that he discovered that the true appearance of an average college dorm room is unkempt. Socks hung from the bedposts, beds were covered in papers and junk, and wires hung in tangled webs across the room. The following day Moustafa showed Patrick around the campus. In the evening, they attended a college event that Patrick did not elaborate on. Patrick described the overall experience as enjoyable.

Roberto Ruiz, the governor of the JSA Mid-Atlantic state chapter, finished his college visits over the summer. Roberto attended college tours at Duke, Northwestern, the University of Chicago, Cornell, and Georgetown. Roberto felt a special connection to Cornell and Georgetown. Due to Roberto’s activism, he finished his college tour days over the summer. Thus, relieving him of the stress that would ensue due to the mixture of handling school work and college visits simultaneously. Roberto highly recommends upcoming Seniors do as much college visits as possible during the Summer. We wish Roberto an abundance of success in his future endeavors!

Arianna Cruickshank, a new arrival at Leonia High School, visited Rutgers, Ramapo, Montclair State, TCNJ, Seton Hall, and Fordham. She enjoyed Ramapo because of its close knit community and scenic campus. Montclair was special because of the nice dorms and multitude of activities for students to participate in. Arianna is looking forward to her college experience.

Clara Gomez visited numerous colleges, however Ramapo stood out to her.  In contrast to the other colleges Clara visited, Ramapo had a sense of community that she didn’t feel anywhere else.  Additionally, Clara plans to commute to college, instead of living in a dorm. Ramapo appeals to her in another sense in that over 70% over Ramapo undergrads are also commuters, just like her.

All interviewees agreed that it truly doesn’t matter where you go to college. You will find your group of friends and enjoy life as it is, regardless of where you decide to attend college. In the end, success in college (and in life) is based on the effort you put into it more than anything else. Good luck future freshmen!