The process of deciding what college to choose is approaching quickly for the class of 2021.

Ariana Bandy from the class of 2020 is currently attending the University of Kentucky.

“The main thing that helped me choose the University of Kentucky as my home for the next four years was their great pre-med program.” Ariana Bandy said.

Keeping up grades is crucial at this point.

“My college process wasn’t too hard because of the hard work I put into high school graduating with a GPA of 3.87 unweighted making it easy to attend almost any school I wanted with no cost,” Bandy said.

Bandy has experienced this process of deciding what college she wanted to attend and has advice for the senior class of 2021.

“Developing good study habits as early as possible in order to maintain the highest possible GPA for yourself and having good entrance exam scores such as SAT or ACT are also very important factors when applying and being accepted into schools,” she said.

Making decisions for college can be difficult for some but yet some important decisions are critical for success, said Ms. Dewald, a guidance counselor for Merrillville High School.

“The most important factors when making a college decision in my opinion are the resources the college offers, costs, scholarships offered, major options , and standards the school sets its students at in comparison to your standards,” Dewald said.

Senior Allison Richardson has begun narrowing her choices.

“Aurora University , IUPUI , Alvernia University. Those are my top choices because they have really good programs for athletic training and exercise science which is what I’m going to be majoring in, and they also have a good volleyball program,” Richardson said.

Richardson hopes to play volleyball in college, too.

“I think it would be easier for me to get a scholarship through volleyball because of my performance on the court,” Richardson said.

This year, submitting SAT and ACT scores to apply for schools are optional due to COVID 19.

“I do not plan on taking SAT or ACT because the majority of the colleges I’m interested in don’t require it”, Richardson said.

Class of 2020 Destiny Lilly, feels that test scores are useless.

“I will not take any test to get admitted into any colleges because I feel it is useless and doesn’t prove anything major,” Lilly said.

“I feel that as students our GPA holds more value than any test score that colleges like to look at and evaluate us as a student but yet our GPA from all four years of highschool shows a great example of what type of student we are.”

Cost also is another big fact for students deciding on a college.

“Colleges are nearly robbing us as students and that’s why I will remain in state if I don’t receive any basketball scholarships, “ Senior Juwan Bandy said.

Some students have been able to make college visits, despite COVID, and believe that is an advantage.

“I have been on two college tours, and I feel as if physically taking tours to colleges plays a huge role in making your final decision,” Juwan Bandy said.