By Jessica Berg
For many high school seniors, now is the time for them to think about what they want to do after high school. This is no different here at Tyrone Area High School. Day in and day out, seniors are applying for college and deciding what they want to do after graduation.
The process for applying isn’t easy. Many students have to research different colleges and decide what they want in a school environment. Some students prefer a bigger campus with many diverse people and for others they prefer smaller rural colleges. When deciding what colleges they want to go to, seniors have to think to themselves if they can really see themselves there for however many years it would take for them to get their degree. Also, for some seniors, college isn’t even the way they want to go after graduation. Technical schools, career institutions, or even the military are other alternatives to attending college.
Senior Macey Lucas elaborated on senior year.
“It feels so weird to finally be the oldest in the school and to think I won’t be here next year,” said Lucas.
Like many seniors, Lucas is looking forward to prom and graduation.
When Lucas looked at colleges, she looked for small class sizes, a nearby location, and a nice campus.
For Lucas, it took about a week for each application because of being busy with other responsibilities for school and needed help from the school counselors.
“Students should really start looking at colleges at the end of their junior year at the latest. There are a lot of open house opportunities during the summer,” said Lucas.
Lucas has applied to Penn State and IUP. She has been looking into teaching math at the middle and high school levels because she remarked that she enjoys teaching and is good at math.
Jessica Hoffman, senior, also shared her feelings about senior year.
“It feels weird to think that I will be out [of school] in a couple months,” said Hoffman.
In her search of colleges, Hoffman looked for location, her major and housing on and near the campus. Unlike some applications, her process of applying only took a few days.
“Do not wait. Start early,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman has applied to Mount Aloysius, Lock Haven and Cedar Crest. She wants to major in nursing to become a Registered Nurse (RN).
With the absence of Mr. Eckberg, Mrs. Johannides has been involved with many seniors applying to college.
“Many [seniors] students have been in the guidance office completing online applications,” Johannides said.
Along with Lucas and Hoffman, Johannides agrees that students should start the college process early. According to her, students can start in 9th grade by taking their classes seriously and trying to get the best GPA possible. In 10th or 11th grade students should take the PSAT to prepare them for the SAT. Students looking for more help with PSAT and SAT prep should consider taking Mr. Everhart’s, English teacher, reading and writing prep class and Mrs. Marasco’s, math teacher, math prep class.
“These classes are proven to increase test scores,” said Johannides.
Many seniors have seen the positive outcomes of beginning the college process early and are encouraging underclassmen to do the same thing.
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