Stuyvesant’s Feelings, Philosophies, and Fears about College

There’s no question that at Stuyvesant anxieties around college often begin during freshman year. It’s also no surprise either that getting into a prestigious college is baked into the ethos of a “specialized high school.” Oftentimes, when hopeful eighth graders sit down to take the SHSAT, they see high school as a stepping stone to college. Over the course of four years, however, this perception tends to change. So, how exactly do current freshmen view college? How does this differ from seniors who are currently enduring the application process?

Where do you want to go to college?

“Well, I want to be a doctor, so something with biology or something like that, but I also want to get into NYU [...] I don’t think [prestige matters]. If you want to be an engineer or something crazy like that, you'd be better off getting into a good college, but a job is just based on expertise, and what you know.” —Alex Genkin, freshman

“I’ve been thinking about certain colleges but I’m still very tentative. The way I’ve always thought of it is that I would apply to the more prestigious colleges but if that doesn’t work out for me I would look into community or local colleges.” —Sarah Kim, freshman

“I don’t know where I want to go, but I have an idea of what I want to study and the type of college. I would say a bigger college because there are more opportunities, and then also, I’m interested in medicine and business, so definitely maybe something in biology.” —Alexa Seltzer, freshman

“Obviously, I’ll be happy with an Ivy League, like most people will be happy with an Ivy League. I’m good with NYU, I’m also good with some safety schools like Stony Brook, maybe, or Rochester [...] I have some high goals, but I also want to be realistic.” —Jishan Chowdhury, senior

“I’d love to go somewhere outside of America or New York because the city [is] kind of a trash bag sometimes, so I would like to spread my wings [and] go other places, like I think RIT has an abroad program for Croatia. And I have a friend there, so I’d like to visit him sometime.” —Malemnganba Ashem, senior

To what extent do your parents influence your college choices?

“My parents are looking into studying abroad because it’s less expensive there. I know a lot of, especially jobs like doctors, like medical professions don’t really look at college as much.” —Alex Genkin, freshman

“Most of what I hear is from my parents like, ‘Make sure you know about this,’ but it always seems like too much to understand.” —Yingwen Huang, freshman

“They influence it a lot. Both of my parents are actually in business, my dad went to Michigan and my mom went to [University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass)], so UMass is a smaller college for that, and they’re also very dedicated to my education so they want me to study harder and get into better colleges.” —Alexa Seltzer, freshman

“Me, personally, I would follow what I think rather than what my parents think. [...] If they want me to change my major or stay in the city, I would be like, no, that’s my choice. I know that unfortunately, some kids have tiger parents, so they don’t have that choice, so I feel lucky that I have that choice.” —Christopher Chin, senior

“I’ll listen to their opinion but [...] I wouldn’t let them choose my whole major—that’s the rest of my whole life. If I’m going to make a mistake, I’m going to do it myself. I’m not going to let someone else do it for me.” —Jishan Chowdhury, senior

What is your perception of the process?

“Kids nowadays focus [on college] a little bit too much. [...] What college you go to doesn’t determine your whole future. Yeah, college is important, but college doesn’t determine everything overall, so try not to focus on it too much. It’s more important to figure out what you want to do and find something that you are happy doing as well.” —Christopher Louis, freshman

“The only thing that I’m currently worried [about] is clubs and all because you would like to have those for four years, so I kind of have to get involved now or at least have some idea of what I want to join or make.” —Alexa Seltzer, freshman

“Generally I don’t really know that much about it, but based [on] what I’ve heard it’s really stressful. Every Wednesday I have a club and it was even canceled one time for college applications and stuff like that, so sounds stressful.” —Felix Lin, freshman

“I mean what I’ve heard sounds very complex and requires a lot of hard work to make this application. I’ve heard about people writing college essays [at] the beginning of the school year and thought that sounded very intimidating.” —Sarah Kim, freshman

Have you started preparing for college? If so, how?

“I’m not working on anything right now. College is really far away, but sometimes, like today in one of my classes we are talking about college and stuff and I was like ‘Wow, that was fast.’ So stuff like that, it’s at the back of my mind I’m not trying to do anything I wanna focus on other things more immediate in my life.” —Felix Lin, freshman

“No [I haven't been preparing], I’ve just been focusing on adjusting to school.” —Sarah Kim, freshman

“I did a lot of research on it and I think that there are a lot of different parts to it. The SAT is becoming less of a big part. It’s a standard criteria and it’s less of a deciding factor and it’s more of like your personal essay, which I think puts a lot of pressure on that and also clubs, [extracurriculars], grades, and attendance in high school.” —Alexa Seltzer, freshman

“I looked into it once and I talked to some seniors, but other than that, I haven’t done any individual research.” —Christopher Louis, freshman

“I know the relative month my deadlines are. I don’t really know the exact date until I have to do the college application. For the supplements, I feel like I finish[ed] most of them during the summer, but I know a lot of people are rushing their supplements at the last minute, and I honestly did that for a few of my applications already. I feel like I’m decently prepared.” —Christopher Chin, senior

“I wouldn’t say I’m fantastic at it, but I would say I have some semblance of an idea because I do meet with my college counselor, though not often, I wouldn’t say I’m too crazy experienced with it.” —Malemnganba Ashem, senior