#KeepItReal with CollegeFindMe (ft. Samantha Savello) | Real College Talk Ep. 18

Real College Talk

Welcome to Real College Talk! RCT is your destination for honest and relevant college and postsecondary conversation. We bring the best of the best to our podcast to share both their personal and professional experiences and advice regarding all things school, college, career paths, and life in general. In continuation of our #KeepItReal series with CollegeFindMe (https://collegefindme.com/), we’re joined by Samantha Savello, CollegeFindMe’s Digital Media Coordinator, to share her perspective on college and life since graduating from Brown University, changing her major, exploring gap years and career paths, and much more!

Long before encountering CollegeFindMe, Samantha experienced high school in a way many of us can relate to. She was very active and ambitious to explore a variety of interests, but was challenged to narrow her focus upon entering college (2:35). She eventually majored in Hispanic Culture and Literature (5:00), through which she was able to explore her Puerto Rican heritage and even studied in Granada, Spain for a semester! However, she wasn’t always sure that her sole focus would be Spanish. Samantha shares the importance of identifying what you truly love and are passionate about – in her case, communication and languages – as you navigate your education and career (7:00). Beyond the classroom, Samantha was an accomplished writer throughout her time at Brown University (12:41). We take some time to delve into one article in particular titled, “In Favor of the Gap Year,” and discuss how current high school and college students can assess if a gap year may be right for them.

We begin to wrap up with a broader discussion of how to approach the college search amidst societal pressures to judge schools based on selectivity and acceptance rates only (16:45). Our question: Does selectivity really matter? We discuss that while selective schools may have unique resources and valuable networks, you will find the most success at a school that truly aligns with your personality and goals in life, as opposed to a school that you select solely on the basis of its prestige. Samantha reminds us that regardless of where you go to college, what matters most is what you make of your experience, both in class and outside of it (18:25). Last but not least, Samantha shares some specific CollegeFindMe resources that she would have used during her own college preparation process to conduct her college search and choose the school that best fit her needs (20:20).

Real College Talk is a podcast that you won't want to miss! To catch every episode, make sure to hit the subscribe button and turn on our notifications. You can follow us on Instagram @realcollegetalk (along with @collegefindme!) and follow our co-hosts @morgs__anne and @nikhil.vn. We are always working on new content, so be on the lookout for our latest episodes. In the meantime, Keep It Real!