Palo Alto High School's Class of 2018 participated in the tradition of wearing their future college shirts to celebrate selecting their future colleges on Tuesday, which was the deadline for commitment for most schools. Five seniors spoke to the Paly Voice about their decisions and gave advice to the Class of 2019, who will be applying to college in the fall.
Senior Maddie Dong will attend Oregon State University in the fall. "I really wanted to go to the Pacific Northwest" she said. "I weighed out my options, and chose OSU [Oregon State University] because they have a really good study abroad program, and are really into the environment." Dong suggested that incoming seniors take the upcoming summer break to relax rather than stress about college applications. "I don't think it's worth it to start your applications over the summer," she said. "I recommend having a defined list of options [colleges] by the beginning of school, but it's not worth stressing over when you don't have to."
Senior Anjali Bardhan chose to attend the University of Puget Sound. "I decided to go there because they have a good music department, and because I want to study environmental science," she said. Barhan remarked that the application process was a bit overwhelming, as she did most of the process on her own. "It was really stressful, and I wish I had had help with it," she said. Bardhan recommended that incoming seniors complete elements of the application process early on to minimize stress. "Make a list of schools and know where you want to go early-on, and get your ACT and SAT out of the way early," Bardhan said.
Senior Jihi Kundu will attend Purdue University. "A lot of the decision was based on academics, how big the school is, diversity, and how much spirit it has," Kundu said. He suggested that incoming seniors apply to a diverse pool of schools. "Don't be fixated on one school. There are so many people who get fixated on getting in to one school, but you never know what's going to happen," he said. "You know you'll get into a college no matter what, so just apply to a range of schools."