Choosing a college is one of the most stressful parts of being a high school senior. As a student, you have to stay on top of classes, tests, applications, figuring out what colleges suit your career goals the best, and what you can afford. When I was a senior, I was sure that I wanted to double major in Music Education and Creative Writing. But not every major is easy to find at colleges. How did I know that Ball State was the place for me to be? It had the majors I wanted, as well as a place for me to start my life on my own. Here’s why I chose to go to Ball State University.
In my early high school years I wanted to be a band director. I had heard that Ball State had a good Music Ed program, so I applied. When I got accepted into the university itself, I still had to audition to get into the School of Music. As I got closer to graduating high school, I wasn’t as into the idea of being a band director and being in school for the rest of my life, but I still auditioned.
I wasn’t prepared for how competitive the audition process would be though. Coming from a small high school, I had very limited experience with auditions and competing for spots, which probably worked against me.
Throughout childhood I went through a number of careers that I wanted to pursue, but throughout middle school and high school, I knew that I wanted to be an author. As I began to edit the work of my peers, I realized that I also wanted to be an editor. So I looked at universities with the hope that I could find one that wouldn’t put me in debt for the rest of my life, and that wasn’t extremely far away from home.
I’ll admit that I looked at schools further away, such as Baylor University in Texas out of curiosity. For Baylor specifically, I didn’t meet the basic requirements to get in and I wasn’t entirely sold on the school. I looked at some of the classes and knew that I would enjoy the Creative Writing program at Ball State. Not to mention it was close to home while still giving me a chance to be on my own for the first time.
Throughout my childhood my parents could be overprotective. They got more lenient the older I got, but they still worried. I hadn’t been far away from home until I went to college, so the thought of going to a campus where I wouldn’t get to go home except for breaks was intimidating.
Ball State University is approximately an hour away from my hometown, meaning it gives me the freedom to discover what I want to do with my future, but it also ensures that I can go home on the weekend if I want or need to and that my parents can come up to watch me perform with the Pride of Mid-America marching band at football games.
College is an expensive decision for any family, and figuring out how to pay for it is daunting. While Ball State isn’t the cheapest option in Indiana, it also isn’t the most expensive. As I looked at other colleges, I realized just how expensive college could be.
Ball State’s tuition is half of what Butler’s tuition is, and that’s still in state! When I looked out of state, I quickly realized that tuition costs would be higher and had to start crossing names off of my list.
I’ve been shy my entire life so the thought of meeting a roommate and having to make new friends was daunting. Before I started going to class I assumed they would all have 100 plus students and that I would never sit next to the same people. Having older friends who chose to go to Ball State before me helped ease that fear, since I would have at least a couple of people to talk to.
Knowing that other kids in my grade were planning on going to Ball State made it easier as well, even though I knew we probably wouldn’t see each other very often. When I actually started classes I realized that many of them only had about 20 students, which made it easier to get to know people.
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