Decision Day on Long Island: What's the deciding factor for high school seniors?
Jadon O’Brien, 17, a Uniondale High School senior, plans to attend St. John’s University in Queens, where his mother, Trinette, is an alum. Credit: O’Brien family
May 1 is College Decision Day — the deadline by which high school seniors opting for more schooling must commit to their preferred institution of higher learning. It’s become a tradition for seniors to come to high school on that day wearing a T-shirt or swag that lets everyone know their selection.
Here’s what five Long Island seniors will be wearing on Monday. While all of them chose their school for their academic majors, each also had an additional deciding factor that led to their final choice.
Credit: O’Brien family
MEET THE SENIOR Jadon O’Brien, 17, of Hempstead
HIGH SCHOOL Uniondale High School
COLLEGE CHOICE St. John’s University in Queens
THE DECIDING FACTOR His mother also attended St. John’s
O’Brien first thought he might attend Howard University in Washington, D.C., or Hampton University in Hampton, Va.Virginia, both historically Black colleges and universities. But O’Brien’s mother, Trinette, a court clerk, attended St. John’s University — “she raves about it,” he says — and so he visited that campus and liked its feel. He especially liked the dorms; he plans to live on campus. “I’m very particular about how I like to live. I like to be comfortable,” he says. In addition, St. John’s has given O’Brien a $133,000 legacy award and merit scholarship that will defray the cost over four years, he says. O’Brien was a member of the Uniondale High School Rhythm of the Knight show choir, competed in junior varsity and varsity volleyball, plays trombone in the jazz band, was marching band drum major, and is ranked eighth in his class. He plans to major in adolescent education and music.
Credit: Unger family
MEET THE SENIORS Twins Delaney and Cameron Unger, 17, of Selden
HIGH SCHOOL Newfield High School in Selden
COLLEGE CHOICE University of South Carolina
THE DECIDING FACTOR “We don’t like the cold,” Delaney says.
Cameron was initially more convinced than Delaney that the University of South Carolina was the right choice. He wanted a school in the South; he wanted a strong music program — he plays trombone — and he wanted at least a club golf team, as he played varsity golf in high school. “It had every single thing I wanted,” he says. Delaney’s first choice initially had been East Carolina University in North Carolina, which has a program for child-life specialists, who work with children in hospitals to help them cope with their stays. But over the past few months, she veered toward the University of South Carolina as well, where she can major in public health and be with her twin. “For me, life is easier with him around,” she says. That’s because Delaney has a prosthetic leg, the result of an amputation when she was 11 due to childhood cancer. She’s still athletic — she has been on the Newfield varsity kickline for four years — but her brother makes her laugh, she says. Her decision also makes life easier for their parents — one orientation, one parents weekend, one graduation, Delaney says.
Credit: Marissa Armstrong
MEET THE SENIOR Marissa Armstrong, 17, of Commack
HIGH SCHOOL Commack High School
COLLEGE CHOICE SUNY Cortland in upstate New York
THE DECIDING FACTOR Greek Peak Mountain Resort is minutes away from Cortland’s campus.
Armstrong has been skiing since she was 2 and snowboarding since age 7, going on trips with her family and friends. Her father, Scott, 50, who works for a bank, is an avid snowboarder who started the Skiing Club at Hofstra University when he was in college, Armstrong says. Armstrong wants to be active in Cortland’s skiing/snowboarding club. “I wanted to follow my father’s footsteps. When making my college decision, that was a really important factor for me,” she says. Armstrong selected Cortland for its elementary education program, but she’ll also be able to snowboard at Greek Peak Mountain Resort on weekends or when her family comes to visit her, or even after classes. “The fact that there’s a mountain 10 minutes away made me want to go even more,” she says.
Credit: Julianna Gargiulo
MEET THE SENIOR Julianna Gargiulo, 18, of West Islip
HIGH SCHOOL West Islip High School
COLLEGE CHOICE Bennington College in Vermont
THE DECIDING FACTOR The school’s costume design internship program.
Gargiulo was costume manager for West Islip High School’s production of “Chicago,” and it convinced her that she should pursue television and film costume design as a career. She created a color-coded spreadsheet of colleges noting their degree offering, expense and distance from Long Island. “My mom was a guidance counselor, so I had to start early,” Gargiulo says. She wanted a school with a concentration or major in costume design that wouldn’t make her spend her first two years taking general education requirements. “I really wanted to get into the classes that would benefit me directly,” she says. “I whittled it down to about six that I was serious about. I applied to all of them, and I got into all of them.” What pushed her over the edge to Bennington was its field work component — she must do four hands-on internships of two months each to graduate, she says. “You’re required to go try out what you’ve been studying … to make sure you like what you’re doing as you go on,” she says.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
