Jake Ballinger ’16


Major: Computer Science & Cognitive Science
Minor: Chinese & French & Spanish & Math

ballingerj@allegheny.edu

Hometown: Westminster, MD

College Search Advice:
Don’t judge a college before you actually get there! Visit as many schools as possible, and focus on finding a good fit rather than a school with a higher ranking. Finally, if a school doesn’t have an application fee, seriously consider applying. That’s a statement that the school believes an education should be accessible to anyone.

A Favorite Allegheny Memory:
Allegheny happens best when you’re with other people, and my experience here was more of an epiphany. I try to go to ACO, the Allegheny Christian Outreach, pretty frequently, and as I listened to everyone’s stories one night I realized that “Unusual Combinations” goes far beyond our curriculum. We, as individuals, are all non-typical conglomerations of ideas and experiences, and we are rich human beings full of the depth of wonder. As I look at my own experiences, and as I look at my own identities, and as I realize how much of a paradox I look on paper, and how much my identities seem to be in conflict with each other but aren’t, I realize that I, just like everyone else sitting in that room, is their own blend of unusual combinations. To me, Allegheny is a place where having those different identities is encouraged.

Favorite Place On Campus:
Ford Chapel Oratory

Why I Came to Allegheny:
I had actually written off Allegheny – it was my safety school, and I really only applied because they kept sending me mail and there was no application fee on the Common Application. My other application choices were Amherst College, Georgetown University, University of Chicago, Pomona College, Johns Hopkins University, Rice University, Middelbury College, and Tulane University. Amherst was my first choice, followed by Middlebury, then Georgetown.

I didn’t get into Amherst and my guidance counselor never sent in his part of the application to Middlebury, so I didn’t get in there either. (That, by the way, totally sucked.) I got accepted to Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Pomona, and Allegheny. At first, I was set on Georgetown, and I called my mom as soon as I got the news (I was applying to college while I was studying abroad in Brazil, so my mom was kind of far away.) She told me that I should consider all of my options equally.

So fine. I had taken a few months off from looking at colleges and now I had to reevaluate each of them. I looked at the curriculums. I looked at housing and school size. I read student blogs. I looked at what alumni were doing after graduation, and how much they were giving back to the college. I looked at class sizes and I looked at the costs of attendance. I thought long and hard, and I made charts and tables comparing all of my options. I tried to envision myself after college. What would I be doing? How would I get there?

In the end, I chose Allegheny because I would be paying substantially less to go there and clearly alumni loved the place. I felt that, out of all the schools I was considering, people at Allegheny grew more than people at other schools, both personally and academically. Alumni clearly love Allegheny, and I could tell how much my opinion as a student was valued.

I chose Allegheny because it looked like the place where I would grow the most. It was a place where I could do research with professors, engage my fellow classmates, and make strong friendships. Allegheny was small enough for me to see people as I walked back to my dorm from class, but large enough that there was always someone new to meet and something new to discover. ”

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