Why Iona?

There's many colleges I could have chosen for my studies. Why did I choose Iona?

Iona wasn't a backup school for me, nor a top school. Iona was not even considered by me until they had come to my school and my guidance counselor made me meet with them for an instant decision application. Having now spent 2 full years at Iona College, including one semester abroad, I am very happy my guidance counselor pushed me for that Iona instant decision application. Iona was the only local school I ended up applying to. I had all intentions on leaving New York, even the northeast, and possibly even the country, to go to college.

Iona became my home for a several reasons:

• Proximity to New York City
• Small class sizes 
• I received a scholarship
• I could live at home and study
• Great athletics program and communications department
• Unique Study Abroad opportunities

A snowy day on campus. photo by me

Funny enough, I ended up realizing Iona had everything I wanted in a college. With the small class sizes, I knew that I could be a person, not a number, and make an impact in the classroom, which I wouldn't at a big school where there would be hundreds in a class. I also wanted a school that was near a big city. Some of my other top choices were LaSalle in Philly, Merrimack near Boston, and University of Tampa. I knew, since I wanted to study communications I needed to be near a big city, and there is no better place than New York City for Mass Comm. Iona also offered me the ability to live at home and go to school. While it is a 45 minute drive, commuting to Iona has allowed me to save on room & board which is another heft cost, no matter the school I would choose.
I also wanted a school with a good Division 1 program in a sport, because if you know me you know how much i love my sports teams. Iona has proven to me in my two years that's what they have, with the men's basketball team making the national tournament, in both years I've been here. Another big point for me was study abroad programs. Coming into college I knew I wanted to study abroad. While Iona doesn't have as many programs as other schools did, they have the Passport Western Europe (PWE) program, which allowed me to study in Dublin, Barcelona, and Rome for 5 weeks each last fall semester. That semester abroad was truly one of the greatest times of my life, and I recommend study abroad to anyone that has the opportunity.
Iona College was truly a blessing to me that came out of nowhere. If you are considering Iona, or didn't previously but enjoy the reasons I've mentioned in this post, look into Iona College! Never would I have pictured myself at Iona because I did not look into it at first, but now I am so happy I am a Gael and wouldn't change it for anything else.
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