Manan Manchanda ‘19
EE Senior News Editor
As college acceptance season draws to a close, members of Trumbull High School’s graduating class have finalized where they will be spending the next four years of their life. This year, the Eagles have spread their wings to attend schools all across the United States, ranging from large state schools to prestigious private universities.
The college application process is tedious enough, but many fail to realize the difficulty of actually choosing which college they want to attend. “Above all, it is most important to find a school best for what you want to study, and one that financially makes sense”, says Mrs. Hilser, Department Chair of Trumbull High School Counseling.
Early Action and Early Decision are two popular trends among applicants everywhere. “A lot of kids want to apply early action to get their decision earlier. But for early decision, a student is making a promise to attend. You do not have the ability to compare schools, so you must be very certain that the school is one you would be committed to attend if accepted”, says Mrs. Hilser. While Early Action and Early Decision both have their perks and hindrances, they can certainly be used to a student’s advantage if utilized properly.
A variety of colleges are popular among Trumbull High graduates. Recently, schools that are gaining popularity include Ohio State, Northeastern, and variety of large state schools. Some examples are the University of Virginia, University of Delaware, and University of Maryland. “Kids are drawn to these schools for a variety of reasons. They give a good value for students’ money,” explains Mrs. Hilser.
Of course, many students will also be attending UConn, the major state school in Connecticut. “The last few years, acceptance into UConn has become a little harder. It is important to be in the top 20% of your class, and have an SAT score of at least 1250, if not 1300,” says Mrs. Hilser, explaining the acceptance logistics for UConn.
“UConn Stamford has actually jumped onto the radar as well”, according to Mrs. Hilser. “Students are able to get the UConn experience, while also having access to housing and industry. UConn Stamford is also fairly close to the city, so students have the opportunity to take a train to New York City if they wish.”
Top schools were also on the radar for the Class of 2018. Students were accepted into several Ivy League schools and the like, including Penn, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT, and many other highly competitive schools. “We actually had our first student accepted to MIT since at least 2007,” remarks Mrs. Hilser. The following are some of the most competitive schools that Trumbull High graduates have been admitted to in the past: Amherst College, Bucknell, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon, Emory, George Washington, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Haverford College, College of the Holy Cross, Johns Hopkins, Lafayette College, New York University, Northeastern, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Richmond, University of Rochester, Tufts, Tulane, Vassar College, Villanova, University of Virginia, Wake Forest, Washington University in St. Louis, Wesleyan, and the College of William and Mary.
“Trumbull High does do a great job of preparing its students for the college experience. Many alumni do come back and say that they were prepared well, and that they are able to finish what they had started with their years at THS. What’s telling is the number of Trumbull High students who actually graduate college, which goes to show how great our students really are,” says Mrs. Hilser. We wish the best of luck to the graduating Class of 2018, as the Eagles soar off to college.