Rebecca Neumann
Entertainment Editor
Location, location, location. It’s not just a real estate slogan. It’s also one of the most important considerations for seniors when choosing a college to attend.
As more and more acceptance letters roll in, more college gear appears at school. Many of the deadlines have come and gone, but the college acceptance is not completely over yet. There are still several months before the final decisions will be made.
Few know the intricacies of the college decision-making process as well as counselor Mindy McMinn.
“I see most of the actual decisions made later in the spring because a lot of time students have wait to see what happens with financial aid and scholarships,” McMinn said.
Financial aid is an issue with almost every student. The amount of money a student receives from a school can sway their decision.
“[Money] is a very large consideration, especially for anyone applying to a private school or an out-of-state school,” McMinn said. “A lot of students take location into consideration because that’s a concern for their families. The further away a student goes, the more you have to factor in a different set of costs as well.”
However, despite the costs, many students choose to attend colleges outside of Texas. Senior Emily Smith already made her decision to attend the University of Missouri next year and luckily, the financial situation does not effect her. Mizzou, like many other state schools, offers a scholarship to out-of-state students to balance out the cost of the larger tuition.
Smith’s decision to leave the Lone Star state stemmed from the familiar craving for independence.
“I’m a very independent person so I wanted to branch out and try something new,” she said. “I’m pretty close to my parent so [getting independence from them] wasn’t a huge deciding factor. I think it will be fun to make a fresh start, even though the weather is supposed to be really cold, which will be a big change from the Texas heat and humidity, so I’ll have to invest in some warm clothing.”
More and more students go out of state for college every year and not just for the sake of independence. In the last few years, colleges have sent more recruiters to North Texas.
“I think that the colleges and universities are acknowledging that Coppell High School produces high quality students and so our students are being admitted at greater rates than years past,” McMinn said. “Every year, more colleges realize they want more Coppell students. They want the caliber of students we have here.”
For senior Crystal Sun, who decided to attend Pennsylvania State University, her goal was just to get out of Texas.
“I’ve lived here my entire life so I want to get out,” Sun said. “I figured I might be coming back for a job later in my life because there are a lot of opportunities in Texas for the field I want to work in [aerospace engineering]. There are a bunch of airport hubs in Texas. I figure I might as well try and live somewhere else while I still can. That’s my main reason for leaving Texas. I always knew I wanted to go up to the northeast for college and live next to all the big cities. I did apply to [Texas] A&M, but I’ve always intended to go further away.”
So all in all, the decision to go farther away to school is a mixture of preference and a craving for independence.
“Bottom line, it can be more expensive to go further away,” McMinn said. “I think what’s most important is that the student finds the school that works for him or her after having considered numerous factors. A school can be very prestigious but is that student going to be comfortable at that school?”
McMinn offers a last piece of advise for the still undecided seniors.
“It’s important to consider all the factors when choosing a school because the students have to live there,” she said. “The people will become their community. The environment will become their home. The student life will become their opportunity. So I think it’s very important for them to consider all of those factors, as well as the appropriateness of the academic program.
