Andrea Cruz-Vazquez’s ’25 room is quiet, lit only by the pale glow of an open laptop. She sits cross-legged at her desk, her eyes moving between the three admitted student portals open on her screen. Cruz-Vazquez only has a few hours until the May 1 deadline to enroll at one of the three schools where she was accepted: Rhodes College, Denison University or Connecticut College. Her hand hovers hesitantly over the cursor as she thinks about how the choice will affect the next four years of her life and beyond. Finally, she makes her decision, and in an instant, her future is set. Cruz-Vazquez said her choice to attend Connecticut College was based on affordability and location.
“It was a debate between where I could see myself being comfortable but also money,” Cruz-Vazquez said. “At the end of the day, it was between Denison and Connecticut because those were the two best financial aid options. Denison gave better financial aid, but location ended up being the deciding factor because I’ve always wanted to go to the East Coast. It was the money that was holding me back from making my decision sooner.”
Upper School Dean Sarah Miller said students should take factors other than prestige into consideration when deciding what college to attend.
“I want every student to end up at a school where they’ll feel genuinely proud and happy,” Miller said. “Students should look for a place that supports their growth and encourages them to be their authentic self, however that looks for them. That institution may be perceived as prestigious, or it may not. The point is that joy matters.”
Nationwide, 67% of high school students rated cost of attendance as a “very important” factor in choosing a college, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Miller said students should consider affordability when choosing a school because student loan debt can have an impact beyond college.
“An important piece, one that sometimes gets lost in the emotion of decision season, is cost,” Miller said. “Every student, and by extension every family, has a different financial threshold for what feels manageable. I wouldn’t encourage any student to take on a level of debt that limits their career options throughout their twenties and thirties simply to pay for a degree earned between the ages of 18 and 22. That kind of pressure can be soul crushing, so it’s okay [and] even wise to factor that into your final choice.”
Nathalie Paniagua ’23 attended Syracuse University for her freshman year of college before transferring to the University of Southern California, where she is currently a sophomore. Paniagua said she originally chose Syracuse due to the prestige and opportunity presented by its Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Syracuse has a Latino student population of about 10%, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Paniagua said the lack of Latino representation in the school’s community influenced her choice to transfer.
“When I decided to transfer, it wasn’t because of academics,” Paniagua said. “I was really prepared for [Syracuse] academically because of Harvard-Westlake. It was more because of the social aspect. I wanted a different type of community, and I thought that I could find that being back in [Los Angeles]. I didn’t see a lot of people with my identity [at Syracuse]. It was hard to find them at the school. I spent time trying to find that community and feel welcomed and included, but I just didn’t feel it.”
Cruz-Vazquez said she also wanted to go to a school with a diverse student body that reflected her identity.
“Diversity was important to me,” Cruz-Vazquez said. “I wanted a community where there were Latinos. Even though nothing compares to Los Angeles, I wanted somewhere that I knew I could find someone who looked like me and spoke the same language as me.”
Sarah Parmet ’25 said she initially wanted to either apply Restrictive Early Action (REA) to Harvard University or Early Decision (ED) the University of Pennsylvania. Ultimately, she applied REA to Harvard because of her legacy status at the school, which she and her dean hoped would increase her chances at admission. Parmet said she was deferred and then waitlisted from Harvard but eventually accepted to Penn via Regular Decision. She said she is happy with her result and her decision to leave the Harvard waitlist because she wants to be independent of her parents.
“The main decision I had to make was whether to stay on the Harvard waitlist or not,” Parmet said. “My dad, who went there, initially encouraged me to stay on. Ultimately, I took myself off the Harvard waitlist, and my parents supported my decision. I know it’s cliché, but I’m happy I was deferred from Harvard. I’m really excited to forge my own path at Penn. If I was going to Harvard, people would think ‘it’s because she’s a legacy.’ Penn is something that truly belongs to me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Parmet said although name recognition and prestige were factors in her choice to attend Penn, the school also provides the best programs in her areas of interest.
“Obviously, there is an aspect of ‘it’s Penn,’ but also, out of all the schools I got into, Penn had the best music opportunities both in terms of extracurriculars and actual courses,” Parmet said. “They have an incredible creative writing program through the Kelly Writers House. Also, having the Wharton School right on campus is a very valuable resource.”
Cruz-Vazquez said although she was disappointed about not getting into her ED school, she is content with attending Connecticut College and knows she has options for her future.
“At first, I was upset about not getting into my ED, but looking back at it now, I’m not sure if it would have been the right place for me,” Cruz-Vazquez said. “At the beginning of the process, I wanted to go to a small school, but at the end, I wanted something bigger. Overall, I feel good about my decision. I’m going into [Connecticut College] with an open mind to liking it, but if not, I already have a backup plan to transfer out. I know it’s not common, but transferring is definitely a plan that should be talked about more, especially as the college admission process gets more and more selective.”
Paniagua said it is beneficial for students to let go of rigid expectations and beliefs about the college admissions process.
“Having a dream school is a very difficult mindset because it places a lot of pressure on students,” Paniagua said. “It’s always good to have goals set for yourself, but specific expectations will make it more difficult in the long term. Going into my junior year of college with the whole admissions and decision process behind me, I’ve realized that you end up where you need to be. In high school, it feels like the end of the world if you don’t end up going where you want to, but honestly, that’s just not the case. If you’re not happy somewhere, you always have the power to remove yourself and find something that is a better fit.”
