As of Thursday, I received the last of my college decisions and have pretty much made up my mind on where I will be attending school in the fall. Nothing is official yet, but I’m pretty confident in saying that I’ll be a Wellesley girl. Wellesley is one of the oldest women’s colleges and is ranked first out of the historically women’s colleges. It is a part of the seven sister schools, others including Smith and Barnard College.
A month ago I was pretty much set on going to the University of Texas at Austin and majoring in Finance. It was in-state, so cheap and close to home. However, I can’t say I was fully content with that choice. I never wanted to stay in Texas. I am not a fan of the government, weather, and at times the people. Additionally, it was always my intention to go to a liberal arts college.
As someone who thrives on personal relationships with teachers and intimate learning environments, heading into a large university where I wouldn’t be able to form those connections easily was just plain wrong. I would have been miserable and I know it. I also recommend that if anyone knows that they will pursue higher education like a graduate degree, considering who is writing your recommendation letters is also important. If you’re at a large university and your class is 100 kids, what are the chances you get a stellar recommendation letter?
For someone who doesn’t care about sports or a party scene, UT Austin’s social aspect didn’t factor much into my decision. Had I gone to UT, I probably would have had fun, but I think you can have fun anywhere you want so long as you make the effort. Wellesley is in Wellesley, MA just 30 minutes outside of Boston. I think the isolated aspect will allow me to focus on my studies and have a tranquil environment while also having access to a really culturally diverse city to satisfy boredom.
I also happen to have some friends that will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, so I will know plenty of people in Boston as I also know a friend at Wellesley. The proximity to MIT is one of the reasons I factored into my decision. As an intended International Relations-Politics and Mathematics major, I am interested in taking classes at MIT to fulfill my mathematics credits.
If we’re being frank, the Wellesley campus is just so beautiful and charming. It is the exact environment that makes you want to study. I can’t wait for the next four years and all that will come with it.
