An Open Letter to High School Seniors
Hi seniors,
Seeing lots of posts about "School X or School Y for IB?" and wanted to bring some perspective. I am all for making an informed decision about your college choice and considering how it may impact your recruiting process, and I'm excited to see so many of you with a clear idea of what you want to do after you graduate. That said, you will spend four(ish) years at the college of your choice, and I encourage you to prioritize overall fit in your decision process. Do you like the location? What about the course offerings? Are the dorms / on-campus living requirements (or lack thereof) what you had in mind? How much do you value school spirit, sports, small (or large) classes, study abroad, proximity to home, price, scholarship opportunities, etc.? Alumni networks, business program offerings / rankings, and historical placement for grads are absolutely great things to consider, and I'm sure you'll get a lot of great advice on this forum, but don't focus so hard on one metric that you forget to consider what your day-to-day life will look like for the next few years.
At the end of the day, alumni networks, prestige, and other related factors will definitely benefit you in recruiting (target and non-target schools are real), but you are likely miles ahead of your peers in your drive and your knowledge of the field, and that will take you far regardless of your university's US News ranking. Wherever you end up, seek out networking opportunities, leverage every resource at your disposal, and don't forget to enjoy your four years.
P.S: There is no such thing as a single perfect college for anyone - several will be awesome schools for you, and almost every college will fail to check every single one of your boxes. While it feels like an enormous decision, you are capable of making a great choice (and if it happens to be the wrong choice, transferring is much more common than you may expect).
TL;DR: Your career goals should be one of many factors in your college process - acknowledge them, but don't lose sight of the big picture.
Well put. I’d also like to add that, outside the context of something like IB recruiting, a lot of colleges seem to be rather similar in terms of programs, degree requirements, modes of instruction, extracurriculars, etc.
So, when choosing a college, it may be helpful for high school seniors to keep in mind that most students will successfully adapt to most college environments that they may encounter. Just as an example, Duke and Emory may seem quite different from the perspective of a high school senior, but in terms of campus life, they’re likely rather similar.
Like you said, it’s definitely worth keeping an open mind about one’s options.
Much more likely to flourish and have a successful college career at a place you fit at. Reiterating everything said above
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