Making My Final Decision as An Associate of Applied Science

To say that the last two months have been insane would be a grand understatement.

The classwork load definitely increased as the end of the semester approached, but I’m very pleased to say that I finished strong. As of May 18, 2019 I officially have my Associates of Applied Science Degree in Electronic Media Communications with a Specialization in TV/Video Production. While some would say that an Associates Degree isn’t much, I believe that it’s something to be proud of; and in this highly competitive world, I’m of the opinion that if you have an extra degree on your resume it helps showcase your work ethic and dedication to the field.

I was hoping to have an answer from the remaining two colleges before I graduated from community college, but sadly this was not the case. Loyola Marymount University was behind on processing their transfer applications, and after I remembered that they only asked me to file a FAFSA, I decided that I most likely wouldn’t end up going there assuming they’d give me a poor financial aid offer assuming they would get back to me on time (they never did get back to me).

I had given up on getting into USC a while ago, and after the news got out about their admissions scandal I was beginning to have second thoughts about going to a school with that serious of an integrity issue. When it all came down to the wire, USC sent me their denial notification the day before enrollment deposits were due. I’m not going to lie, even though I wasn’t sure about USC before that moment, I was still a little upset that I didn’t get accepted. More than anything else, I was irritated they took their sweet time telling me that the answer was “no.” Regardless, within hours of that moment I was at peace with the decision I ended up making.

In the week leading up to June 1st (Decision Day aka The Enrollment Deposit Due Date for every remaining school on my list), I started to narrow down my list of choices.

SCAD is a great school in an awesome market; they didn’t give me that bad of a financial aid offer; and I even have a friend from high school who’s an animation student there; but the thought of fulfilling so many art requirements overwhelmed me. Yes, film is a visual medium, but there’s a reason why directors and producers hire and choose their artists to do drawing and animation for them.

I love Philadelphia, but Drexel has far too high of a price tag.

SVA just straight up didn’t offer me any financial aid, and I had a similar thought process for their course requirements that I had with SCAD.

Which brings us to the Boston schools: Emerson College & Boston University… I love the city of Boston. Boston is a great market. Both of the Boston schools have a campus in Los Angeles and study abroad/internship opportunities…

I loved Emerson’s campus, its feel, its location, its facilities, and all of the opportunities that came with going there.

BU I wasn’t initially crazy about, but as the sun rose on that campus I began to see the beauty of it. BU has so many notable alumni and such incredible networking opportunities. BU would also give me guaranteed housing for all of the time that I would be a student there.

Needless to say I was torn, so I sat down and ran the numbers. I made some financial aid appeals, and when it all came down to it, BU was offering to cover 20% more of my costs than Emerson was. The decision was pretty clear.

After I heard from USC I decided that on the morning of June 1, 2019 I would submit my enrollment deposit to Boston University. The more I thought about it and said it out loud the more right it sounded. I submitted my deposit, and I started the process of becoming a student: planning advising appointments and registering for orientation and all that jazz. As I continued my research and my enrollment, I was reminded of all the reasons I applied to BU in the first place. With each step of the process, and with each passing day, I have grown more and more excited to continue my academic career at Boston University’s College of Communications this fall.

The anguish, stress, anticipation, and frustration have all passed. Now the excitement has begun, and I’m ready to start the next chapter of my life.