Senior Plans

Farewell, Class of 2022!

Senior insights on college apps and their future plans

Seniors were sent a survey through their English teacher, asking their opinions about their time at school and the community around it. 72 students responded to survery and here are the results:

Favorite School Year?

Senior (54.8%) Junior (4.1%) Sophomore (7.8%) Freshman (23.3%)

In-Person (93.2%) Online (6.8%)

> 4.01 (15.1%) 3.01-4.00 (54.8%) 2.01-3.00 (23.3%) 1.01-2.00 (6.8%)

$500-700 (2.7%) $300-500 (21.9%) $100-300 (45.2%) $0-100 (6.8%) Did Not Attend (23.3%) Tao’s Fresh (31.5%) ShareTea (31.5%) Brewja (24.7%) HappyLemon (12.3%)

Yes (61.6%) No 38.4%)

Chick-fil-a (39.7%) Popeyes (42.5%) McDonald’s (11%) Jack in the Box (5.5%) KFC (1.4%)

Target (86.3%) Walmart (13.7%)

In-Person or Online Learning? Best Local Cafe?

Do you have your driver’s license?

Average GPA: Best Chicken Sandwich place:

How much did you spend on Prom? (Excluding Tickets) Target or Walmart?

Two seniors share their pathway for after high school

By Thinh Huynh

Choices Galore

Some students go into high school with little to no future plans. Senior Ronnie Yalung, however, entered high school with a clear goal: get accepted into a prestigious college.

“My original plan after high school my freshman year was to just go to a prestigious college. I wasn’t too sure which college I would want to go to, I just knew it had to be a respected and well-known university, like Stanford.” Yalung said. “I never really changed my decision. Sure, I didn’t go to Stanford or anything like that, but I’m still going to Vanderbilt, and while it isn’t well known here in the Bay Area, it still is a top 20 university nationally, so I would say I’m not deviating too far off of my original plan.”

Yalung committed to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He applied to 23 colleges and was admitted to 12 of his choices such as UC Los Angeles, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and Boston University just to name a few. For Yalung, he started off his freshmen year desiring a prestigious college, and now he had accomplished his goals. His goals sure have strayed a little, but not too far from the well-known Stanford University.

Yalung, after being admitted into all these colleges, ultimately decided on Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt provided Yalung with a great financial aid package and has the prestige he was looking for.

“It is ranked 14th nationally and I had a great financial aid package.” Yalung said. “The student-to-faculty ratio is 8:1 so I’m going to have more connections with my teachers and it was rated highly on undergraduate studies.”

Vanderbilt wasn’t the only school that provided Yalung with great financial aid. Yalung would’ve been paid fully for any other colleges as well. However, Vanderbilt did offer him resources outside of education tuition.

“Well, for any school that I could’ve chosen to go to, it would be paid in full due to financial aid and any other scholarships I received that weren’t from the school directly. However, I did receive a $6000 scholarship from Vanderbilt to study abroad for a summer, so that helped.” Yalung said. “Getting an $85,000 per year financial aid package from Vanderbilt stood out quite a lot. It covers all of my costs including food, tuition, and housing. It also covers any indirect costs, such as travel expenses or purchasing necessary technology.”

Financial Aid was a huge factor for Yalung when deciding on his college. Though, the environment of the college has its importance as well.

“I looked for location, food, financial aid, quality of teaching, student to faculty ratio, prestige, and quality of major.” Yalung said. “Although prestige is a high factor, it’s not too high to the point where I would disregard my choice of major and money.”

Yalung suggests underclassmen to start early. As your high school year is short, you want to have the qualifications for college be checked off as soon as you can.

“Start early! Look at the essays and the common app and make sure they marinate in your head so when you do have to write them, it’s not surprising or super hard.” Yalung said. “Start doing things you want colleges to see like extracurriculars and sports. Make sure you get grades well enough to go wherever you want so you can have the options when it’s time to apply.” Senior Darren Wen, like other students, struggled when deciding upon their future. Now he was set in stone for one major: kinesiology.

“During freshman year, I was terribly clueless about my future in college and I had no set plan at all. I did not even know what I wanted to do in college or as a future career until recently near the beginning of my senior year.” Wen said. “I’ve always had some fascination with the human body and that’s why I pushed myself to do calisthenics and participate in sports. I realized I wanted to do kinesiology and kinesiology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo appealed more to me than the pre-med-based route I would have to take at UC Berkeley.”

Wen committed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Wen applied to 11 colleges. He was only rejected by University of Southern California and waitlisted by UC Los Angeles. Just like most students at Arroyo, Wen went into high school not knowing what he wanted to be. However, because of his fascination and interest in the human body, Wen was able to decide his career pathway.

Wen was torn between Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Berkeley. However, Wen ultimately decided on San Luis Obispo, majoring in kinesiology

“I was deeply debating between Cal Poly San Luis Obispo versus UC Berkeley, and in the end, I picked San Luis Obispo because of their location and I got the major I wanted.” Wen said. “Berkeley accepted me for nutritional science which I felt like was not aligned with my interest.”

The intended major was a huge factor for Wen when deciding on his college. However, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo provided many resources for Wen as well.

“I got loans from Uncle Sam (FAFSA).” Wen said. “Additionally, I picked San Luis Obispo because I like being further from home during college and it will teach me independence. The major at San Luis Obispo was just better for me anyway because the school itself is a good school for that major.”

Wen firmly believes that the intended major and location are the main factors when deciding on a college. Those who go to college for prestige will only end up hurting themself in the future.

“It’s the major you chose. I don’t care if Harvard accepted me for a major I don’t care about because I’m not going to do anything with that major.” Wen said. “If you go to a college just for their name, I feel like you, yourself, won’t be as happy. You also have to make sure you like the location of the school.”

Wen believes that these factors will lead to success in college. Additionally, he advises underclassmen to start earlier than anticipated.

“If you are applying to UC, start your PIQs as early as you can.” Wen said. “They usually do not turn out the best of quality if you start your PIQs in November or October. I suggest you start mid-summer or beginning of the school year. It is best to give yourself as much time as you want. I would also tell you to research what kind of major would interest you the most.”