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1 Petry Up until the end of high school, we dont have much of a say in the decisionmaking process in aspects affecting our lives, most of the decisions are made for us. This all changes when we reach the end of high school and are considered in society as "adults." College is the biggest decision weve had to make in our lives up until now, since were choosing where we are going to be for the next four years of our lives . Personally, I had a unique opportunity given to me which was both very beneficial but at the same time made my decision that much more difficult . My mother is a tenured professor at the University of Hartford, and one of her main benefits is that her children get the chance to attend college with virtually free tuition on around 600 schools in the US. If accepted into the schools ,,Tuition Exchange program (sometimes very competitive), Id be going to college free of charge . With this prospect in mind, I had to have a large list of schools, as I had to receive the scholarship as well as earning admission to the institution. For this reason, I applied to 11 schools total, and was accepted into Iona College, University of Hartford, Seton Hall University, St. Michaels College, Roger Williams, Sacred Heart, Endicott, Western New England, and Assumption College. In order to make the decision to attend Assumption College, I had to make an educated decision based on a wide variety of factors. I will discuss these factors and compare my own personal decision-making process compared to the outline talked about in Chapter 7: Petry 2 The first element of the decision making process: 1. Identify need to decide- opportunities and problems The first time college became a prominent issue in my life was during my junior year of high school, an important time to assess realistic decisions of what wed like to move on to after high school. My main goals for what I wanted to achieve through college: Obtain a good education, be challenged Have an excellent college "experience" with good memories Be in a comfortable environment, mature as a person Be prepared to enter the workforce, get a good job Earn a good salary, be successful, provide for my family Deciding where to go is a tremendously important verdict; essentially youre setting up the entire future of your life as college determines youre the next four years, which sets you up for either graduate school or to enter the workforce . The second element of the decision making process: 2. Generate all feasible alternatives, including new ideas My parents made it very clear when I was young that I would be attending college no matter what, it was not an option. Having both attended college and with my Mom being a college professor, they understood the great importance of attaining a college diploma in order to get a good job, and they passed that same mindset onto me. I had never thought about potentially going straight into the workforce , the military, or into trade school; college was always my future from day one. I had been brought up this way Petry 3 forever, and although I had no feasible alternatives to attending college, I had a tough decision process ahead of me. The third element of the decision making process: 3. Evaluate alternatives based on critical decision/criteria During every college visit that I went through, I wrote down all immediate feelings I had about the school, everything from campus feel to cafeteria food to the academic programs offered. My criteria to determine my college choice was: Reputation- known as a good school, name awareness Dorms- high quality? Could I live here? Distance- close to home, but still getting a little distance Having an excellent college "experience" with good memories Are there people here like me? Could I get along with them? Be comfortable there, could I be here for four years? Set myself up for a good future when I graduate When I first started visiting schools, I began ranking them in my head, as my admission/tuition was not determined yet . Once I got into the schools and received the validation of tuition, I was able to compare each school to my criteria and see how much I liked each school. Here were my top 5 schools, in no specific order: Seton Hall University -outstanding business program, what I wanted to major in -D1 sports- as a big sports fan I loved the idea of this -Well known, good reputation as a school -Didnt like the campus, wanted to see more modern buildings -Surrounding area outside campus very shady, in very bad of part town Petry 4 Roger Williams -Great campus, right on the water -Decent school, liked it but didnt think academics were great -Campus buildings looked sub par, not in great shape- kind of trashy St. Michael's College -My favorite for a long time, great campus -Very good reputation in the Northeast -Loved outside area of Burlington, great college town -Would be able to ski very often, something Id love to do -Didnt like distance, about 5 hours from home, hard to come home if needed Assumption College -When I first drove through the campus during the summer time , hated it, wanted to cross it off my list- but my opinion greatly changed when I went for tour -Know many people who attended- all loved it, had great things to say -When I went for campus tour, felt very comfortable, could picture myself there -Liked area, in city of Worcester but at the same time secluded in a suburb -Well-respected school, good academics University of Hartford -Average reputation as a school, not anything amazing -Extremely close to home- 5 min away, convenient-but too close for me -Been through the campus hundreds of times, wanted something new -Pretty nice campus, undergoing many improvements Risks involved with my decision making process included: What if I didnt get in anywhere? What if Im not able to handle the work and fail out? What if Im miserable and dont fit in on campus? What if I dont get the tuition money anywhere? What if I feel like I made the wrong decision afterwards? The fourth element of the decision making process: 4. Decide on an alternative using all relevant information Petry 5 After getting all my acceptances, receiving scholarships for Tuition Exchange, I compared all of my potential schools to the criteria I had established--coming to a decision. My final three schools were St . Michaels, Seton Hall, and Assumption. I eliminated St. Michaels because of the distance factor, and I felt like Id like to be a little bit more closer to home. I took Seton Hall off the list because I didnt like the campus or the surrounding town, even though the academics were well known. At the end of the day, I felt like Assumption was the best balance for me--both academically and socially. Id heard great things about the school, personally knowing very successful people who are graduates of AC, and understood the positive reputation that Assumption holds academically in the Northeast . I got notification from financial aid that I had received the full $27,000 tuition from ,,Tuition Exchange," so I was thrilled to be go to college only paying for room and board. All these factors combined with the comfort that I felt at Assumption made me feel as if I could enjoy my college life immensely--therefore I made my final decision to attend Assumption College. The fifth element of the decision making process: 5. How to implement chosen alternative The whole college process brought out a lot of decision making and comparisons from one school to another, and it was a very difficult decision. The lack of having the options of the military, trade school, or the work force right out of HS helped make my decision a little bit easier, but at the same time crossing my fingers for the Petry 6 tuition for all the schools made it very stressful. Assumption was the most sensible pick for me when I took a step back and looked at my criteria, the best overall decision for me as a student . The sixth element of the decision making process: 6. Monitor and Obtain feedback- lessons learned Attending Assumption was a great decision for me all around-it was a great fit and by writing all the steps of my decision out I realize how good of a decision I made for myself. Assumption is a well-known school that will set me up for future success after graduation, but while Im here Im enjoying every second of it . Classes are definitely very challenging, but at the same time they should be--college is a big step up from high school. I feel as if I can grow and mature as a person here as well as progressing academically and socially--Assumption is a good place for me to be. A main lesson that I learned looking back on everything if I had to do it again--to be a lot less stressed out about it--college is college and as long as you dont get your heart set on one school youre going to be fine as long as you work hard itll all work out in the end. Reflecting back on my decision making process Im very happy that I chose Assumption, it was the right pick for me and Im very pleased that it worked out that way.

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