The most stressful time period for most seniors is waiting to hear back from colleges. Did their dream schools accept them? But who needs to worry about those things when getting into UT Austin or Princeton is a sure thing.
Brooke Jackson, a senior and a very talented track star, is around two weeks away from getting an acceptance letter into Princeton, not only the best college in the country but out of the Ivy Leagues.
“The school scouted me out after seeing my good performances,” said Jackson. “Then they reached out to my school to see if my grades matched. After that I got in contact with the Princeton coach.”
After wins at nationals running with team USATF (one of the two national track teams) multiple Ivy Leagues were hoping for Jackson’s official acceptance. There are tons of factors that go into choosing a college, even more so when it comes to student athletes; coaches, teammates, location. For Justice Carlton, a nationally ranked girls basketball player, there were core values she was looking for in her coaches.
“Family-orientation, that [is]a big thing for me,” Carlton said.“I wanted to make sure that my coach is very family oriented and that family played a big goal in his life. [UT has] one of the top facilities in the country and I think I’ll be able to play best in their environment.”
College, no matter where,is always a huge period of change for a person and big factors like whether to go in state or out of state can also play a huge role in a players decision.
“My little sisters played a big role in me going in state, but if going out of state was the best option for me ultimately I was going to do it,” Carlton said.“I thought I was going to go to Connecticut but it’s too far, too cold and too dark.”
But sometimes when you know you know.
“I went on an official visit [to Princeton] and I had a really good time there.” Jackson said. ”After going on the rest of my visit I realized Princeton was definitely the one: I love the coach, I love the school, I love the teammates and I definitely wanted to go there.”
