Profiles: Seniors Decide Where To Go For College

As seniors begin to make their finals decisions on which universities they attend next year, each has a different idea of what they are looking for. Whether it’s the school’s academic record, its atmosphere or its sports teams, every senior has one factor that matters most. Here is a look at what guided four different seniors’ college searches.

Molly Rappold:

There was no doubt in Molly Rappold’s mind as to whether she would play soccer in college.
“I’ve been playing practically my whole life and I’ve always wanted to play in college,” Rappold said.
Rappold loves the concept of the game, because you have to work with other people to succeed.
Next year, Rappold will play for the University of Nebraska, a decision made after visiting theUniversity of Kansas, the University of Missouri, Furman University, Clemson University and Duke University. During her sophomore year, Nebraska and the other schools approached Rappold about playing on their teams. But Nebraska was the school that excited her the most.
During her visits to the other schools, Rappold compared all of them to Nebraska, which she believed had the best facilities and atmosphere. The weights and training rooms were bigger and more up-to-date. There’s an cafeteria strictly for athletes that caters to their healthy diets.
While Rappold is excited to meet her new teammates, she will not be alone. Several of her friends and club teammates will also be playing for Nebraska. They have been on the same team for year and Rappold is looking forward to continuing to play with them.
Next year, Nebraska will be moving from the Big 12 to the much stronger, more competitive Big 10, a fact that Rappold is nervous about. Being only five foot five, Rappold says she will need to get much stronger to be able to compete successfully with the other girls on the team and in the conference.
The success of last year’s varsity team and the closeness of the players, made Rappold realize that continuing with soccer in college is a must for her.

Spencer Brown:

Ranked in the top 10 of the senior class, the most important consideration in Spencer Brown’s college decision is academics. He is currently deciding between New Mexico Tech University, Kansas State University, Kansas University, the University of Tulsa, Harvey Mudd College and the University of Virginia. Brown’s top choice is Harvey Mudd College because of its membership in the ClaremontUniversity Consortium, an organization of seven colleges that are within one square block of each other in Southern California. They each have a different concentration, Harvey Mudd’s is computer science and engineering, and students at each college can take classes at the other six. This collaborate program that would allow Brown the freedom to take classes, such as Latin, outside of Harvey Mudd.
“It’s a quality institution and I won’t have to compete with graduate students for science research,” Brown said.
Regardless of which school he chooses, Brown will major in either computer science, physics or Latin. He will also play in the orchestra and compete on the computer programming team. Brown has been competing in computer programming contests throughout his time at East. Last year, Brown and East alums Joe Craig and Qi Chen won the district competition. Winning the competition is Brown’s favorite academic memory from high school. According to Brown, the competitions were very tough and crazy because of the hectic atmosphere. It felt good to Brown to beat all of the other teams.
What Brown is most looking forward to in college is the freedom to choose what he wants to do, which classes he wants to take and what he wants to specialize in.
“In high school I had a somewhat limited choice of classes and in college I will be able to pick more specific ones,” Brown said.
What Brown has learned from high school is that while he has many interests, it is impossible for him to pursue them all. He hopes that Harvey Mudd will help him get close.

John Meyer:

John Meyer has been a musician his whole life. He played piano for 11 years, and when he came to East his freshman year, Meyer joined concert choir, which sparked his interest in pursuing music in the future. After college, Meyer hopes to have a career as an opera performer, and if that doesn’t work out, a choral director or voice teacher at the college level. Meyer took this into account when choosing schools.
Next year, Meyer hopes to attend the Cincinnati Music Conservatory, a performing arts school recommended to him by his voice teacher and choral director Ken Foley, an alum of CMC.
Meyer looks up to Foley and respects his opinion enough to take it into consideration in his college search.
Meyer wants to pursue a major in musical performance with an emphasis in voice. CMC has some of the highest level voice teachers in the country with an excellent reputation in preparing students for vocal performance. Meyer’s favorite memories of high school choir, which also influenced his decision to continue his music career in college include making Chambers and state his junior year.
“The level of East’s choir is so high that I really wanted to a college where that doesn’t change and there’s a lot of good music,” Meyer said.
Choir at East has taught Meyer patience. He’s learned that you have to work for what you want in music and he’s ready to continue working hard in college.

Jack Esberg:

The most important factor that senior Jack Esberg is looking for in a college is his major–either business or graphic design. Esberg currently takes graphic design classes at Broadmoor, which has made him want to continue learning about it in college. Along with having the majors of his choice, Esberg looked for a school that was close where many of his friends were going. The University of Kansas had all of these qualities.
“KU seems to be the closest and the easiest and I know a lot of people that are going there,” Esberg said.
While at KU, Esberg hopes to play lacrosse or other sports in intramurals or clubs. He hopes to pledge to a fraternity.Esberg has been to a few rush events at the KU campus and he liked the atmosphere of them. Several of Esberg’s friends are also planning to attend KU, where they will pledge as well. Esberg’s senior year with his friends has been his favorite part of his high school experience and he is excited to get to continue spending time with those same friends at KU.
Esberg is most excited for the freedom of college, but he’s nervous about changing his lifestyle so dramatically. Being on his own will be a new experience for him, but he hopes being in a comfortable environment with his friends will make the transition easier.

All photos by Lindsey Hartnett.