Johnalie

03/09/2020 1:03 AM

Hey guys! This week I’m gonna tell you a bit about my college search process and why I ended up committing to Bradley, so if you’re curious, keep reading!

Since you guys are all seniors, I’m sure most of you know what it’s like to get stacks on stacks of mail from different colleges. It’s overwhelming, to say the least. I wasn’t sure where to start, and so rather than trying to sort through all the mail, I decided to start with what was (vaguely, at best) familiar. I knew I had a cousin from Hawaii that went to Bradley and graduated when I was in middle school. I didn’t know a lot about Bradley other than it was in Peoria, but I figured that it must have been a good school if my cousin relocated from Hawaii to go to school there. So I registered to visit on Columbus Day, and truthfully that visit solidified a lot for me. Here’s what sold me on Bradley on my visit:

1. Close to home. This seems pretty straight forward. I’m from the northwest suburbs, so knowing that Bradley was just a short 2.5 hour drive from home was reassuring. On top of that, I also knew that the Peoria Charter was a convenient option for me if I ever wanted to go home and couldn’t get a ride back.
2. Size. Having gone to Catholic school my entire life, I was only ever familiar with the sense of community that naturally occurs when you go to a smaller school. The size of Bradley overall felt like the next step bigger from what I was already used to. On my tour, my guide seemed to know plenty of the students that would pass by, and that gave me a good idea of the strong sense of community on Bradley’s campus.
3. Faculty. On my visit day, I got to meet with Prof. Lee Newton and Dr. Seth Katz from the English department. Not only were they both really friendly and ready to answer my questions, but I could tell that they were excited and passionate about their field and genuinely wanted to talk about what I found interesting about English. It didn’t feel like they were only trying to give me a sales pitch. Beyond that, Dr. Katz actually ended up helping me with a research project I was working on my last semester of senior year despite not knowing whether or not I had committed to Bradley. He was a super helpful resource, and I knew immediately that the faculty at Bradley cared about my education. This was a HUGE selling point!

These are just three of so many reasons why Bradley was the right place for me, but ultimately it boiled down to gut-feeling. At the end of the day, I knew in my gut that Bradley was a place where I could see myself growing as a person over the next four years. And that’s always my biggest piece of advice for students looking at colleges: ask yourself whether or not you could see yourself at a particular school. If all checks out, then you’ve found the one.

Don’t stress too much, and try to trust the process. I found my place here on the Hilltop, and I can’t wait for you to find yours!