Students share their doubts about college
by Alida Pecanin

“Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.”

The quote from Michael Pritchard, nationally acclaimed keynote speaker, communicates that fear is just a breeding ground for other negative feelings, and it seems that one of these breeding grounds is set deep within Northside’s borders. As students in a college preparatory high school, Northsiders are expected to go to college, but the idea of college comes with more baggage than one thinks.

“Everything about college scares me and overwhelms me,” Gannon Brzoska, Adv. 107, said.

Specifically, many students are afraid of applying to college and what the process entails.

The college application process is normally seen as the most complicated and overwhelming part of the college experience. During all four years of high school, one must attain top grades in hopes of getting into the college of one’s choice. Even though most of the work must be done all four years, junior and senior year are especially overwhelming because those are the times when one must begin the application process.

During junior year, students must research colleges in order to find the best fit, get the chance to visit those colleges if one is lucky, think of potential teachers who will fill out the college recommendations, and take the ACTs and SATs.

During senior year, students must, among other things, choose which colleges to apply for, ask for recommendations, work on applications, write essays, and plan for financial aid.

For some people, financial aid is high on their list of fears for college. One of the reasons money is such a big fear for students is that they do not know how to go about paying for college.

“My fears have a lot to do with money,” Wendy Roldan, Adv. 304, said. “I want to know how to pay for it.”

Most students rely on financial aid, which can be divided into merit-based and need-based, to help them get the money for college. Financial aid is the funding intended to help students pay educational expenses. This includes tuition and fees, room and board, and books and supplies for college.

Merit-based financial aid consists of scholarships given by individual colleges that are awarded to students for academic performance, while need-based financial aid is given to students based on his family’s financial income.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used for need-based aid eligibility and is available for students to fill out on January 1 of their senior year.

Other students’ fears come from what will happen after they have applied.

“I’m afraid of not getting into the only college I want to go to,” Kathy Zhang, Adv. 203, said.

Indeed, many other students have that same fear. According to www.usatoday.com, the average overall acceptance rates for Ivy League schools are all under 27 percent with the lowest rate being 7.9 percent for Harvard. With those kinds of rates, these schools are considered extremely selective and hard to get into.

While some students are afraid of paying for college and getting into college, other students are afraid of how college life will be.

“I don’t know if I would be able to survive on my own,” Maria Tello, Adv. 304, said.

For most people, college is seen as the most stressful part of a person’s life. According to www.organizedwisdom.com, 71 percent of college students say that they feel stress. This stress comes from the need to succeed in academics, make new friends and contacts, and having to be responsible for ones own needs, such as clothes and food. This stress could lead to sleepless nights and an annoyed attitude.

Whether it is money, acceptance, or college life, most Northsiders feel some fear for college. However, everyone, in some way, attempts to conquer those fears and lead a good life.