On the week of Nov. 13, Harrisonburg High School celebrated college application week. Students applied and explored colleges throughout this week, with them preparing their future after high school. Among those students was senior Isaiah King. King wants to be a doctor, planning to major in pre-med biology. King is interested in attending West Virginia University (WVU).
“WVU kind of has a reputation for partying and no good education foundation that they have that can help you, but from what I saw and some of the lectures I sat in and just all around on the tour, WVU shouldn’t be a school that should be taken for granted. I mean it has really good departments and really good resources for the students,” King said.
King is not only interested in WVU, he has other contenders that interest him, like Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University and the University of Virginia. However, planning ahead, King has decided that other options that aren’t WVU would be more realistic.
“My plan was initially to have WVU be a top contender for a school that I would attend, however because of the savings account that I have that can only be redeemed in Virginia, and WVU doesn’t offer in-state tuition, I don’t think that I see myself going to WVU anymore. But if I did, they have a school of medicine in there, so I would go to WVU for my undergrad for biology and pre-med and then move on to a medical school,” King said.
With future students planning on attending and applying to college, King has some tips on how to get applications ready for college.
“Definitely start early. I started at almost the end of my junior year. Come summer, I sat down and made a list of all the colleges I was interested in, toured them over summer and started building my applications and essays. Then right around August or September, I finalized my applications, asked for letters of recommendation and submitted them by early October,” King said. “So just getting ahead of the game because if you’re involved in sports or other activities at the school, those will take a lot of time away from you and you won’t have time for college applications.”