My College Search

by: Bandgi Patel, senior

Bandgi visiting Pace University in New York City

Applying to college can be a stressful process, but the counselors helped relieve a great deal of the stress by answering any questions I had about my applications. Thinking about what colleges I wanted to apply to was overwhelming, and I submitted applications to a lot of schools, including the University of Central Florida, the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and many others. Towards the end of junior year, rising seniors got a chance to have a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our counselors about what colleges we were interested in. I really think that this helped us and the counselors get an idea of where we really wanted to go and what we were interested in studying. I remember being extremely worried about the whole college process during the beginning of senior year, but in the end, all of it worked out.

I started applying to colleges in October and finished up during the beginning of January. My first college visit I went for was in November, which was for the University of Alabama in Birmingham. UAB made a great impression on me. The campus seemed very nice, and I already had friends that went there, which made it seem even more appealing. I wanted to keep my options open, so I did other college visits. The next college visit I went on was in February, which was for Pace University in New York City. I absolutely fell in love with the campus and the surrounding area. I decided right then and there that this was where I wanted to go. I’m both excited and nervous to be going out of state because, after all, it’s very far from home. As the school year is coming to end, however, I am becoming more and more excited for this new chapter in my life as I plan to attend Pace university starting Fall 2022. #wearesaintjamesschool