Meet our Mentors | Beth’s journey to Wake Forest

We interviewed one of our many incredible Mentors, Beth, who graduated from Wake Forest in 2023. Read on to see how Beth applied to Wake Forest and enjoyed her four years there!

Beth, thanks for sitting down with us. Let’s start with the basics. Can you share where you went to college, when you graduated, and what you studied?

I went to Wake Forest and graduated in 2023. I studied Psychology with Minors in Communications and Global Trade and Commerce Studies. Global Trade and Commerce Studies is a mixed bag of courses. There’s a bit of economics, a bit of sociology, and a bit of communications.

I want to flash back to junior and senior year of high school and your application process. Did you apply anywhere early, whether that’s Early Action (EA), Restrictive Early Action (REA), Early Decision (ED), or something else?

I applied Early Decision for Wake Forest, but I actually did not get in initially! I got deferred.

And then over the course of the whole application process, early and regular, where else did you wind up applying?

So after I got deferred, I applied to Northeastern, Emory, George Washington University, University of Miami, University of Denver, Davidson, and the University of Richmond. I did a tour of campuses during my junior spring, and it happened to be mostly focused on the southeast. So started in DC then went all the way down to Atlanta. I knew I wanted to see Wake Forest and George Washington University, so decided to make the rest of my tours in that same area.

I had toured UCSD on a family trip to Southern California as well.

Any tips for campus tours?

I love campus tours. I’m a big proponent of the official campus tour. I found I learned a lot more than when I self-toured campuses.

The key thing on those tours is to ask the student leading the tour all the questions you have. There are things you can’t, or are very hard, to figure out online or on your own. The people leading the tours are almost always current undergrads. They know what campus life is really like, and they’re there to answer your questions!

Did you apply to any specific university scholarship programs?

Davidson has a scholarship specific to students coming from Chicago Public Schools (CPS). I thought that was sort of random, but I was coming from a CPS school. So I applied!

The only reason I knew about that was from a meeting before one of the official tours I went on at Davidson. Otherwise, I’m sure I wouldn’t have known.

So you ultimately got into Wake Forest. How did you decide on Wake vs. other schools?

I knew I wanted a smaller campus. I’m also a fan of smaller class sizes. I didn’t feel I would learn best in a large, 250-500-person lecture hall. Wake Forest has a 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio. But at the same time, it’s a Division I school and there are tons of extracurriculars.

Wake Forest is also in a beautiful part of North Carolina in the Raleigh-Durham area. You can easily get off campus for beautiful hikes and other outdoorsy things.

Winston-Salem, the town it’s in, also has a nice blend of college town and not college town. It isn’t an overwhelming place, but Wake Forest also doesn’t dominate the culture and amenities of the town.

What was the best thing about Wake Forest?

It feels like they want you to succeed. Wake Forest offers substantial resources to help you get where you want to go. There’s an extremely helpful Office of Professional Development. The professors clearly want you to succeed. This isn’t exactly in the same lines, but I’d even add that the broader staff at Wake Forest are super student-oriented. A specific example I remember is the person who would swipe my dining hall pass in the dining hall remembered my name. She’d mention things like, “I haven’t seen you in a while!” The staff are constantly surrounded by hundreds of students. It was nice feeling like people were watching out for me around campus.

What was the dining hall structure, out of curiosity?

There are two on campus. One is near the freshmen dorms and the other academic buildings. The other is closer to the sophomore and junior dorms. Most seniors live off campus.

As a fun fact, the dining halls are called the “Pit” — North Pit is near the upperclassman housing, and Pit is near the freshmen dorms.

And how about your least favorite things about Wake Forest?

It doesn’t always feel like a totally unified academic experience across majors. I did notice there were differences in approach and resources between, say, a business major and my psychology major. To be clear, I always felt I had the resources I needed. It’s just that knowing what the differences are can be challenging to track as a college student.

Pro tip: if you want to be able to print for free at Wake Forest as a student, study business in undergrad.

What have you heard since graduating that you’ve realized are unique things about Wake Forest?

The requirement to live on campus for the first three years is quite unique. At a lot of schools my friends went to, especially big state schools, it’s even that you aren’t guaranteed housing on campus after your first year even if you want it.

I thought the guaranteed, on-campus living made things feel more cohesive. And not having to think about where you’re going to live really is quite nice. By the way, I’ve been told the dorms and apartments are quite nice relative to other schools.

And then I’ve heard it’s unique to be so substantially on campus for most of college but then also have the opportunity to live off campus. It felt like a fun excursion at the right time, when I was comfortable with Wake and Winston-Salem.

Moving on to more general college reflections, what do you think you’ve learned about college since you graduated?

From my experience, you do not need to know what you’re doing going in and it’s OK to change your path while you’re in college. And then a big surprise for me post-grad is that you’re not constrained to one path even after you graduate.

I have really realized that you can study what you want to study, what you’re interested in. I remember people saying things like “My parents want me to study this.” But then they would change direction mid-way through college because they were passionate about that thing. They still graduated on time, they still found jobs.

Any regrets about your college application process, decision-making process, or how you approached college? What’s that one thing you always tell high schoolers about college?

Two things.

The first is I wish I’d started the personal statement earlier. I could’ve worked on my essay over the summer between Junior and Senior Year of High School. I wish I had.

Sounds like a great plug for Cohort’s Junior Spring Program! Helping students pull together a draft essay over the summer is one of the main things we cover.

True, true.

The second isn’t exactly don’t have a dream school. It’s more like have lots of dream schools!

I was all in for Wake. Then I got deferred. At that point, I had to get excited about other options. I really wish I’d have been more excited about more schools going into applications.

Finally, what made you decide to be a Cohort Mentor?

I’m in grad school for counseling, so this is right up my alley! I love counseling and offering advice where I can. Now having applied to grad school in addition to college, I understand how intimidating it can be but how much a bit of guidance can go a long way.

Thank you, Beth. It’s been great learning about your journey to Wake Forest. Thanks for your time