This is dedicated to all the prospective '14s out there.
One year ago, I was up here visiting like you are now, and somewhere between the wacky skits, engaging professors and down-to-earth students, I knew that this was where I wanted to spend my next four years. But when I told friends back home about my decision, many of them gave me puzzled looks. I was interested in computer science, and they couldn't understand why I chose to attend a school that wasn't "known for" that field and wasn't a so-called "breeding ground" for top tech firms.
In our goal-oriented society, our decisions are often driven by their impact on our future success. In education, this has meant that graduate school admission and future employment prospects are key considerations for many students and their parents when choosing which college to attend. Among my highly driven peers in high school, it was almost an accepted fact that if you want to do computer science, you go to MIT or Carnegie Mellon because that's where the top firms hire. And if you get into some highly elite institution, you should seriously consider attending because future employers and graduate school admission officers will undoubtedly be impressed with the prestige.
But getting into a top graduate school or hired by a prominent company in no way means that you're set for life. There will always be another goal to work toward, another chance to move ahead. As a result, those who are overly driven and never stop worrying about what happens in the future will invariably find themselves running the rat race. As the old clich goes, life is a journey, not a destination. Instead of being preoccupied with the far future, it is important to make the most of what you have in the present.
All of you prospies have just finished a long and arduous college application process. Is it really time to start worrying about your next major application ordeal already? College should not simply be a stepping stone for graduate school or employment. The next four years of your life is much more important than where you will be four years from now. Your college years will be an important chapter in your life, a chance to meet new people and develop new interests. It is likely that your current career plans the ones that some base their college choices on will undergo many changes by the time you graduate. My interests, for one, have already shifted away from computer science.
Granted, we cannot completely ignore the future. After all, we invest a great deal into a college education, and it would be nice to know that all this time and money will lead to some worthwhile (and hopefully high-paying) outcome. But this still doesn't mean you should decide to attend a college because it supposedly places students into medical school, Google or Goldman Sachs. At the end of the day, graduate schools and employers are hiring you the person, not the college on your diploma. Truly talented individuals will undoubtedly be successful after graduation, regardless of the college they attend. By the same token, if a job or graduate school is unsuitable for you, your alma mater will not make you successful, no matter how prestigious it is. What your college can do is provide the knowledge, opportunities and connections to help you reach your potential. Regardless of the career you ultimately decide to pursue, chances are that any one of the top colleges you're deciding between will be equally effective more or less in helping you achieve success. The real decider is what you, as a student, make of these opportunities.
So if college decisions shouldn't be based on future employment prospects, what should they be based on? We are in our prime years right now young, healthy, with limited worries and obligations to tie us down. So make the most of it. Go to the school you will truly enjoy attending and be genuinely happy, not somewhere that ostensibly gives you an extra edge four years from now. Set aside your worries about the future, follow your instincts and go somewhere that "feels right." Whether Dartmouth feels right is for you to decide.
