I got into UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara. Good schools. Famous schools. My friends were excited for me. Then I told them I was choosing Whittier College instead. They thought I was joking. I wasn't. Here's why. I visited UC Irvine. It's huge. 38,000 students.
My tour guide read from a script. When I asked about psychology research opportunities, she said: "You can probably find something." Probably. I visited Whittier. 1,500 students. My tour guide was a psychology major. She spent an hour with me. She introduced me to a professor. The professor invited me to sit in on her class. That's the difference. I'm not a number. I'm a person. And I learn better when people know my name.
My friends say: "But the name recognition! A UC degree opens doors!" Maybe. But a UC degree also comes with $100,000 in debt and classes where the professor doesn't know you exist. I'm taking a different path. Smaller. Less famous. More expensive per year, but with scholarships, not much more than a UC. And I'm betting that the personal attention — the relationships with professors, the research opportunities, the mentorship — will be worth more than a famous name. We'll see. I'm nervous.
But I'm also excited. Wish me luck.
My tour guide read from a script. When I asked about psychology research opportunities, she said: "You can probably find something." Probably. I visited Whittier. 1,500 students. My tour guide was a psychology major. She spent an hour with me. She introduced me to a professor. The professor invited me to sit in on her class. That's the difference. I'm not a number. I'm a person. And I learn better when people know my name.
My friends say: "But the name recognition! A UC degree opens doors!" Maybe. But a UC degree also comes with $100,000 in debt and classes where the professor doesn't know you exist. I'm taking a different path. Smaller. Less famous. More expensive per year, but with scholarships, not much more than a UC. And I'm betting that the personal attention — the relationships with professors, the research opportunities, the mentorship — will be worth more than a famous name. We'll see. I'm nervous.
But I'm also excited. Wish me luck.