A Surprising Source of College Search Insights

It’s graduation season. As a high school student, you and your friends are sharing exciting news about next steps after graduation – where graduating seniors are planning to attend college, go to work, or pursue other endeavors.

Colleges are going through a similar season of change as they prepare for graduation or commencement ceremonies. Commencement is one of the most important ceremonies in the academic year. It’s a time to honor the hard work of our graduates, and mark the significant transition from undergraduate study to the larger world of work or graduate school.

During this time of year, many colleges and universities share success stories about their graduates and what they plan to do after graduation. It’s a way to show the world how a college or university prepares their graduates for life beyond college.

How graduation stories benefit you

These stories are a wealth of information for you as they often provide details about the student experience. Typically, such stories include descriptions of internships and other experiential learning opportunities, information about clubs and organizations, and specifics about student life. They can help you explore what it’s like to pursue a particular major, or think about whether you really want to study abroad. They can also inform you about services or programs that one college may do an especially good job of providing, or prompt you to ask questions that you may not have thought of otherwise.

At Meredith, we share Strong Stories about our students during Commencement season for a number of reasons. Most important, we’re excited about our students’ success! But we also see them as a way for students like you to get a sense of what it’s really like to study and live at Meredith.

Figuring out your best college “fit” can be daunting – but reading stories of real students is one way to start to envision yourself in a place, and decide whether to take the next step toward getting to know a college in person.