With college admission results beginning to come out, senior Maddie Eason worries about picking the college that is right for her. 

“It’s definitely between UF and UCF,” Eason said. “I’m getting honors and scholarship money from UCF, but UF is ranked higher on national charts, especially for my major of biology on the premed track.”

Sophomore Anjani Sharma fears she won’t get into a prestigious college or a college that will suit her interests.

“After seeing the 2022 class college acceptance rates, I have been a little worried about the colleges that I will get accepted into or rejected to when it’s time for my college applications,” Sharma said. “Georgetown is a college I have been looking into due to the facilities and programs they have that fascinate me and my bacterial and cancerous cell research.”

Spanish teacher Alexandra Stewart said going to a prominent college isn’t as important as students think.

“I don’t think most students understand that you don’t have to go to a big-name school,” Stewart said. “As long as the program you’re particularly working on is a good one at a certain college, then that’s what you should focus on when looking into colleges, rather than the overall ranking of the entire school.”

Sharma said college decisions can affect the well-being of students. 

“Academic validation is important to myself and my peers, so not getting into a distinguished college could hurt some people’s self-esteem, as well as mine to an extent,” Sharma said. 

Eason said college decisions and applications are exceedingly stressful because of being a West Shore student and the grade expectations students have.

“There is a looming idea that since we go to a ‘smart’ school, we should be able to get into the more prestigious colleges, but in reality, colleges are looking at what you did with the opportunities you had,” Eason said. “Colleges look for a well-rounded student that sticks out from the other applicants, so only worrying about your grades isn’t healthy for students when college applications come around.”

By Olivia Luchetti