My college criteria changed many times during my hunt for the right school for me. The one criterion that was set from the very beginning was that I needed my future school to offer a degree in computer engineering. This is something I have been set on for many years.

The next criterion I selected was that I did not want to go to a huge D1 school. I wanted manageable class sizes where I could make connections with my professors. I felt like at a large school this was not realistic. My roadblock with this was that taking D1 colleges out of the picture also eliminated many of the strongest options for my degree program. To get around this, I found the 3+2 program. I am going to Millikin University (MU). I will be attending Millikin for three years.

During this time, I will get to play soccer which is another thing I was hoping to be able to continue in college. After these three years, I will attend the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). This is a D1 university, but it is much smaller than I was previously looking at. Since I will already be at my degree-specific classes, the class sizes will be zoned in on other computer engineers and will be much smaller than general education classes would have been. I will attend UMKC for two years to finish off my studies, and I will graduate college with two degrees. I will receive a computer science degree from MU and a computer engineering degree from UMKC.

The final piece in my college search was location. I did not want to be too far from home. I want my parents to be able to watch me play soccer. Millikin is five and a half hours from my home. My parents will be able to road trip up to some of my games. UMKC is less than an hour from my home, so when I am going to school there, I will get to see my family and friends often. The 3+2 program was a great opportunity for me. It allows me to play soccer, stay relatively close to home, get an accredited computer engineering degree, and be in small classes allowing for personal connections with professors. With all this being said, I am so grateful to have found Millikin and the 3+2 program. I am so excited for what is to come.