The ‘Right’ College Myth

by Avery Thunder

Because I am apparently mentally stuck in my senior year of high school, my algorithm still thinks I’m applying to colleges. Something I’ve noticed more and more, post-undergrad applications, is the focus that colleges and college app organizations make on the “perfect” school or the “dream” school. These are terms that I don’t think existed very long ago. This modern obsession we have with both prestige and the idea of “matching” to a university have taken over. 

So, if you’re stressed and freaking out about your future, and maybe what different colleges have in store for you – don’t be. The big secret that no one is telling you, colleges and companies alike, is that all of these places are virtually the same. Yes, there are some differences when it comes to location and financial aid, but when we’re talking about the actual quality of your education, the experience in itself, this is something that you make for yourself. It comes from an openness to new things and curiosity towards your more independent life.

I think there are “wrong” colleges. I think there is the possibility of going somewhere that is simply not right for you, but there will be a time at any college you go to where you will feel that you must’ve made the wrong decision, that you would’ve been happier elsewhere. Additionally, college just straight up sucks sometimes. There will be moments where it is the worst and best experience of your life. As I said, I don’t believe that this is unique to a specific university, and that you’ll encounter this anywhere you go.

So, if you have a dream school, or somewhere you’ve wanted to go for your whole life, and you get rejected in the upcoming weeks or months, know that – it doesn’t have anything to do with you as a person or your actual character. College applications are a game that some people are better at playing, and some people pay for very expensive coaches! If you don’t believe me, go watch a video on how college admissions boards make these decisions. But, more importantly, know that not going to the college you wanted will not destroy your future or stop you from becoming who you’re meant to be, if anything, it’s putting you on the right path. 

When I was applying to college, USC wasn’t even close to my dream school, and it still isn't. I have a lot of issues with it, and I think I always will. There are reasons you pick the college you end up at, whether it’s convenience, culture, location, money, etc. I ended up going to USC mainly for financial aid reasons, and everytime I felt like I’d made the wrong choice, that would come back to me – the question of if this would’ve all been avoidable if I’d just been willing to pay more. 

The truth is, I’ve seen other colleges. I’ve gone to their campuses, seen their students, walked in their shoes, and it’s all like this. Wherever you go. A sad but comforting thing I find myself asking in the dead of night, as I stare up at my bedroom ceiling questioning my life choices, would I be this unhappy anywhere? And the answer is yes, because the things about USC that actively make my life harder, that make me wish I was anywhere else, those are at every other university too.

Something that’s always comforted me is the “Burnt Toast Theory,” which was something my best friend from high school once told me to comfort me. It’s the idea that bad things, or things we perceive as bad, happen to put us onto a different path. For instance, you burn your toast in the morning, and you’re really bummed. But, because you have to remake your toast, you leave for work five minutes later, and you avoid getting into a car crash on the way there. 

That’s how you have to think of college and the idea of a dream school. It’s burnt toast. If you didn’t get in, you weren’t meant to be there – the true test of who you are is making the best of somewhere you hadn’t really considered.