What I Did and Didn't Consider with College Choice

Authored by Associate Director of College Counseling Jesse Hernandez. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music with a minor in Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace University, and his Master of Arts from Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. 

Like many people working in the field of college admissions, I had no idea this would end up being my career of choice while growing up. You can’t major in college counseling (at least not yet, anyway), so suffice it to say my educational plans were not laid out with this job in mind. However, after a number of years working as both a college admissions officer and college counselor, I’ve learned a lot, including how truly ignorant I was about the college process when I was applying to schools. It’s always a good thing to learn from your mistakes, and when I think back on my process I not only find a myriad of things I can learn from, but also gain a greater appreciation for the work and service a college counselor, and HB’s office in particular, offers students.

I went to a very small public high school that didn’t have any college counseling, just two guidance counselors that would meet with you, if asked, to share what they knew about colleges. My father didn’t go to college and dropped out of high school before ultimately earning his GED. While my mother did go to college, she applied to one school and chose to attend sight unseen after (fortunately) being admitted. She also was a music performance major, and her search and application process was much different than that of a more traditional college student.

Given all of this, and when factoring in a pretty disengaged mindset from a teenage me, my college search and application process left a lot to be desired. I often tell students I was a case study on what NOT to do when applying to college, and now I often consider how things may have been different if I had the kind of support HB students are fortunate to have.

For starters, despite some gentle pushing from my mom, I didn’t really start thinking about college until the fall of my senior year. That was pretty true for most of my friends – if they were thinking about college at all – and none of us were doing any prep or planning in the years before. We didn’t have college counselors to discuss a standardized testing plan with us as sophomores or talk through our senior year course selection. There were no college preparation and planning classes to get us into college mode and keep us on track like the Junior and Senior forums we offer at HB. It was pretty much up to me, which is scary to think about when I consider it now.

Considerations

My college criteria were based solely on if a school had a strong music program and cello teacher. After months of wavering on whether I would major in cello performance in college, I decided I would not major in music – only to change my mind a few months later in October of my senior year much to the chagrin of my cello teacher. I thought I had to know what my major would be to find the right school, and at the time music was the one thing I had shown talent and an affinity for in my short 17 years on earth. So, that’s what I landed on. As you may have guessed, I am not a professional musician, and while I still play music and appreciate what I learned in college, I could have benefitted from a bit more academic and career exposure. 

When I did explore colleges, I did so from a very narrow scope of thinking:

• Did it have a good music program and cello teacher? Check.
• Was it kind of close to home but not too close to home? Check.
• Was the campus pretty? Check.
• Time to call it a day.

There were so many important factors I didn’t consider and didn’t even know to consider. Not the least of which was financial aid. My family did not have much money. In fact, I ended up being a Pell Grant recipient, a federal grant offered to the neediest of families. I didn’t understand my level of need, that I would be different from the majority of applicants because of it, that it could play a part in my being considered for admission, or that not all schools would offer the aid I would need to afford to go there.

I ended up applying to four schools, one of which I never visited or really learned anything about. The idea of a balanced list was a totally foreign concept as I had no idea what admit rates or academic averages were for any of my schools. Fortunately for me, as an intended music major, an audition held the greatest weight in my being considered, and I had just enough talent to get offers of admission from each school. My “dream” school, however – the one I had been planning on attending since I was a kid – admitted me without providing anywhere near the amount of aid I’d need to be able to afford the cost. The first sobering bite of reality had taken place.  

In the end, like most things in life, it all worked out. I got into college with the aid I needed, went on to grad school, and found employment. While there are definitely things I could have done differently, I ultimately don’t regret the confused meandering path that led me here. That path not only gave me a rewarding career as a college admissions officer and college counselor but a unique life experience that I pull from when offering guidance to the HB students and families I work with.

Full-Service College Counseling

It's this experience that makes me fully appreciate what we offer here at HB. We’re a full-service college shop that offers everything from guidance on course selection, testing, career exploration, interview practice, essay work, application drafting, college search, and more. Our Junior and Senior forum classes help make sure students are always where they need to be in the college process and allow me to use some of my life lessons to drive our points home.

While I can’t say that teenage me would have fully engaged with and appreciated all that we do in our office, I can say that current me fully understands the importance of this work and the value of a holistic approach to college counseling. Experience can provide clarity, and I’m happy to have tripped up a bit to find a smoother path for others to follow.