Before the school year’s last bell rings, our BAHS seniors first have to decide what to do with our lives. (RIP)

Just kidding, but the college admissions process is both stressful and confusing so seniors were asked for their “hot takes.”

In a survey, 50 BAHS seniors were asked their thoughts on nine questions. The results were both interesting and funny but overall showed both the flaws and benefits of the college admissions system.

Question 1: “Are you going to college?”

We started off simple and asked students if they were pursuing a higher education after high school. The overwhelming majority responded yes with 88% while 12% said no.

Question 2: “What is the most popular college that Beaver Area graduates attend?”

We know that at certain colleges around PA can turn into a high school reunion because of the sheer number of BAHS students who choose to attend based on both costs and admittance. Our seniors had to choose from Penn State, Pitt, Slippery Rock, Duquesne, and IUP as the most popular “BAHS college.”

The overwhelming majority chose Penn State (60%) based on the sheer number of campuses that they have and the number of students who go to the main campus every year.

Pitt had 20% of the votes, and as we all know is also extremely popular for the Bobcats. All the other schools snagged just four or fewer votes with a few write-ins of Ohio University and Kent State.

As a final note, shout out to the one person who wrote “Beaver Area High School” extremely confidently; I don’t think you understood the question.

Question 3: “Does the Beaver Bubble exist?”

Before I even release the results to this question, the Beaver Bubble 100% exists and this was a trick question. Most people agree with me on this: 81% of people said “yes” and 14% of people said “maybe.” (The other five percent are lucky that this was anonymous.)

College and life are both extremely expensive and I know it is hard for some to leave our bubble, but class of 2025, please do. Enjoy college and don’t be that person who comes back to football games in their letterman. I promise that you don’t have to come home every weekend and your parents will be perfectly fine if you travel beyond our county to experience things such as diversity and other cultures.

Luckily many of my peers agree so we are good with that.

Question 4: “Do you think college is overpriced wherever you go?”

With options like Penn State Beaver and CCBC, I will be fair and say that there are affordable options for a higher education out there, BUT I think if you want to be farther than five minutes away from your home the price jumps by thousands of dollars.

The survey results confirm this as well with 69% of respondents either “strongly agree“ or “agree” with this statement. Seven students said that they were “neutral” (code name for boring) while four completely disagreed.

I think at this point, any senior planning on attending college has accepted our dooming fate of the debt that is to come. (It’s okay . . . )

Question 5: “Do you think you can apply for and receive scholarships to help pay for college?”

College is obviously expensive, but can we apply for financial aid? Feelings were positively one-sided on this question with 80% of answers saying “yes.”

With many colleges now posting sky high sticker prices but giving out $20,000 scholarships, in the last decade the definition of scholarship has drastically changed. Options like the FAFSA, our own Beaver Area Education Foundation scholarships, and outside funds scholarships are out there as long as students put in an effort to apply for them.

Scholarships will not fall into your laps, but I swear you will survive writing a 200 word essay for a $1,000 scholarship.

Question 6: “Are other post high school paths viewed in the same light as college?”

With options like community college, tech school, the military, 2+2 programs, and work apprenticeship programs college isn’t the path for everyone. Not everyone wants to live in dorms, get student loans, or keep going to school in general. Does our high school allow these paths to get as much recognition?

I would have said five years ago no, but now I answered yes. Mandatory career exploration classes for students and the effects of COVID had many viewpoints shifting. These results are split among the student body with 30% of people saying “yes”, 35% saying “no,” and 35% being neutral.

Question 7: “What is your dream school?”

For some, a dream school is out of reach because of cost, distance, or acceptance rate, but for others their “dreams” may be coming true in the upcoming months. The biggest difference between these answers and the next question was out-of-state schools.

Some of the answers included reach schools like UNC Chapel Hill, The University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, NYU, Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Carnegie Mellon. Likewise there were “niche” answers like Bowling Green, Norwich, Iowa University, Virginia Tech, and Ohio State.

While others have realistic dreams which (for the most part) is where most of them may end up. These answers included about a dozen answers each ranging from Penn State and Pitt along with a few for Chatham, RMU, Kent State, WVU, and Cleveland State.

No matter the answer, a dream school is exactly that, your dream, so aim high and maybe you will end up where you always wanted.

Question 8: “Where do you think you’ll go to school?”

With reality hitting seniors hard, these answers were completely team Pitt and Penn State with about a third of answers being one of the two schools. Another popular answer was RMU with six students choosing the school thanks to their new scholarship initiative to stop declining enrollment rates.

Others said schools like Bowling Green, CCBC, Slippery Rock, IUP, Kent State, Mercyhurst, and Ohio University. The instate schools trumped most cross-border options for this question and highlight the difference between in and out-of-state tuition.

One student specifically said that “Going out of state allows students to explore and gain new experiences, but because of expensive out-of-state tuition, many students discard that dream and stay within the ‘bubble.’”

Question 9: “What is your college hot take?”

This is where all of our senior friends released their frustrations and shared their college “hot takes.” A hot take is something that isn’t necessarily normalized but totally makes sense. For example, some non-college hot takes may be “Senior citizens should have to retake their drivers test,” or “Wendy’s is better than McDonalds” (it’s not.)

The most popular opinion was that our area should qualify for Ohio and/or West Virginia in-state tuition. That’s fair.

Some other “good” thoughts were that the FAFSA should take into account siblings. (Um, it clearly does when it asks about family size and number of family members in college. Are you sure you’re college material?)

The survey respondents also said that the Common App website needs updating, tuition prices need to be capped, and that the Ivy League is overrated and a hoax.

Just like any survey where students can write something anonymously there were also some very funny responses that I feel need to be shared. One student said that equestrians should be considered D1 athletes and eligible for NCAA scholarships. This is a very hot take but all in your own opinions!

Respondents also said that the drinking age should be lowered (what does that have to do with college at all?) and studying in the mountains with Buddhist monks should be considered a valid post-high school path (follow your dreams, I guess.)

I truly think that the hottest take was that Kent State’s football team is underrated; sorry, but they're on a two-year losing streak.

See you at graduation . . .