Introducing...Admitted: The (Official) College Confidential Podcast

We are thrilled to announce our first episode of Admitted: The College Confidential Podcast is now LIVE on Spotify.

In Episode 1 our host, Case Western student Gabby Alphonse talks to fellow CC Student Ambassador Riley Chong about choosing a major, planning for a career, and why he chose Vanderbilt University.

Listen or read the full podcast transcript below

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Edited slightly for clarity

GABBY ALPHONSE:

With me today I have Riley Chong. He is a freshman attending Vanderbilt University. Hi, Riley, thanks for joining me today!

RILEY CHONG:

Hi! I'm so excited for this. Thank you so much for having me.

GABBY:

Of course! How are you today?

RILEY:

I'm great. I have no classes for the day, so that's just it's always a good feeling. And so, yeah, it's really nice, because I had like pretty busy week. So just having my Friday to myself is really great.

GABBY:

Yeah, yeah, I don't have the luxury of having any Friday classes, but I make sure, like, for the first 2 semesters I've had like Tuesdays and Thursdays, where I have either. Like one class, or like no classes. So I really liked it. I really enjoyed that. I think it's always important to take a little break, you know. Have a little rest in between.

RILEY:

No, yeah, for sure. I just after every math exam that we have at school, like we don't have class the next day, and so that's why I'm I usually only have one class. But obviously, it's canceled today. So yeah.

GABBY:

Yeah, that seems nice! All right, I'm just gonna jump right in here. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

RILEY:

Yeah, so, my name is Riley Chong. I am a freshman at Vanderbilt University. I am majoring in applied mathematics and HOD, which I'll explain later on in the podcast and I'm originally from Los Angeles, California. And I am just really passionate about educational equity, higher education access, and Social media. And so I'm actually a content creator on Tiktok as well. I focus a lot on higher education, accessibility, and kind of college access resources. And so that is kind of where I pursue my passion a lot of the time. And yeah, other than that, I'm just like, a really avid coffee drinker. I drink probably way too much coffee a day. And I also like to run and work out. So yeah, that's a little bit about me.

GABBY:

I have to ask, what's your go-to coffee order?

RILEY:

Yeah! In the morning I get a quad espresso over ice with white mocha and cinnamon syrup, oat milk, and caramel. Well, so that's my go-to coffee order. It's kind of a lot, but I just can't function without it.

GABBY:

Yeah, I see what you mean. Like going here. I was like, not really a big coffee drinker, you know. I'll have it here and there, but not really big on it. Then my school opened up like a Dunkin. It's called our Dunk Tink.

RILEY:

Oh, my God!

GABBY:

The building it's called Tinkham Veale, but we call it Tink. Our Dunk Tink. I don't think I’ll fall in love with something more than Dunkin. I had to cut myself off after Winter break. I was like. Listen. I just gotta take a break from this coffee for a minute, but I could totally see what you mean. Really really enjoy coffee now. Not like I need it, but I really enjoy it now.

RILEY:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. I have a Starbucks girlie. So you know, through and through.

GABBY:

You know that used to be me that used to me! And then I met Dunkin was like, oh, I'm sorry! I just had to push you aside.

RILEY:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

GABBY:

So actually, can you tell me about how you got into content creating? You mentioned that that was one of your passions. Can tell me how you got started in that journey?

RILEY:

Yeah, I love talking about this cause. It's like, kind of, I didn't actually start with like college access and stuff like that. That wasn't what I started with. Now my platform is very much built upon that, but before I didn't start like that, I actually started posting like student Council President, ideas. So I would like, just film videos, kind of giving out ideas for student council presidents to do, and so that's how I kind of like started going viral, I guess, on Tiktok, and I did not know that there was like such a demand for that. But I mean I guess there was.

And then I really started to think about like, who is my audience? And who is really viewing these Tiktoks? Student council presidents are often juniors, are seniors, and so I was like, wait, maybe I can transition more towards college stuff, and as soon after I started posting a lot of college content and advice videos on the college application process. That's when I really started to realize that there were a lot of people who are in my position who like just didn't have well-funded college centers, they didn't really have access to a lot of advising services. That was kind of like who my videos reached. And so I just started to create more of that content and started to be really real with my audience. Like, look, this is what you should be doing. And so I really just built my platform through that. And it’s just been a really good experience to see how my videos have been able to impact students and see who it’s been able to reach especially. So yeah, that's kind of my journey there.

GABBY:

I love that. Yeah, I think a lot of people are really passionate about outreaching and giving back to people that don't really have the same resources, especially in terms of education and college.

RILEY:Mhmm!

GABBY:

I mean, there's so much information about college out there. It could seem really overwhelming. I think honestly, I think that's similar to my story. That's how I started. Putting out TikToks, putting out podcasts, and things like that. Just to give people more equity in so many different unique ways. I think that's the beauty of all this technology and social media and really tech these days. It's just how far it can reach audience members.

RILEY:

Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

GABBY:

So this month, College Confidential is really focusing on deciding your majors and your careers you mentioned that you're majoring in public health, public policy, and economics. This is definitely a mouthful! Can you elaborate a little more on this?

RILEY:

Yeah, definitely! So that has changed since I joined College Confidential. And I'll go through how that's changed. So I applied to Vanderbilt as a public health major because at the time I was really interested in health policy, and, as I became more interested in health policy, I kind of took up public policy on the side as well. And so there was a period of time where I was like a public health and public policy major, and then full 360, I realized I didn't wanna do that anymore because I was kind of realizing some of the opportunities Vanderbilt has and a lot of that happens to be in like business, economics and things like that. And so I transitioned over to becoming an econ and public policy major.

And then, Oh my goodness! After that, I was like no, no more, public policy! I was like, because there was this program at Vanderbilt which I mentioned I would talk about, which is called HOD, Human Organizational Development. And that's a very specific program that basically focuses on the way we solve problems within our communities through business. And that's like, basically what the major is. So we focus a lot on human development, community development, and also talking a lot about internal business structures and how we can like use businesses to further social change. And so that was kind of like a perfect blend between public policy and business, which I became very passionate about, and that's why I got interested in the HOD program at Vanderbilt.

So, as of right now, I'm technically an econ and HOD [major]. But as I realize that I'm really bad at statistics, I have kind of fully transitioned over to kind of wanting to be a a math major instead of statistics, because I'm just like really bad at statistics! I just don't think my brain is built for that. And so the math program here at Vanderbilt is very much more like calculus, algebra focus. And so I'm slowly transitioning over to that, especially since there are a lot less requirements for the Math Majors than are the economics major. I also just enjoy math a lot more. And so, yeah, as of right now, I'm thinking about doing applied math and HOD. But that is still up in the air, but I guess that goes to show you can really explore what you like and what you want to do and what works and what doesn't. And that's been very clear for me this past year, and so I'm glad that I'm able to do that and that I have the freedom to do that.

And so yeah, that's kind of a bit about my major switching journey, if you will. But I’m happy to talk more about that.

GABBY:

Yeah, I think that's the beauty college really, just being able to go and explore all of your interests. You might come in saying, I love this certain major, this path, and you get there and you're like, I actually hate this. This is not for me. And I honestly, I think, in my own college journey that happened with me, I was really dead set on neuroscience because I was like, I don't like to do the traditional pre-med path. I don't want to be in just biology. I don't know what it is! I know premed is like biology and to people that doesn't make any sense. What do you mean you don't want to do biology? And I'm like it’s not for me. I don't really feel like taking all those biology classes, but I think neuroscience is really a nice balance of biology also sciences that I was interested in. So mixed with psychology, cognitive science, and things like that.

And then I discovered sports medicine or kinesiology at some colleges and universities. I think that's the major that I'm really in love with, and they only have a minor here at Case Western. So it's kind of sad. It's really, really sad, but I'm really excited to get involved in that and I think that's just, you know, discovering yourself like I never would have thought of sports medicine or kinesiology. So I think that's something that a lot of students can take into consideration when thinking about their dream college, or some college or university that they're really interested in. Things can change in an instant. You could discover, I really, really don't enjoy this. Like for me, I cannot enjoy math as much as you. You seem to love math a lot. I'm like I can't solve another antiderivative! It's just not for me! But yeah, so what career path are you thinking about taking with this major?

RILEY:

Right now, I think what I really want to go into, after college, is consulting. I know, so unoriginal! Literally, everyone at Vanderbilt ends up going into consulting after, and I'm like, rightfully so! I think the beauty of college is that you also have so many opportunities for jobs after. That's why a lot of us go into consulting. But I think specifically right now, I want go into marketing and consulting. Like I mentioned, I’m passionate about social media and marketing. And I have been very interested in that, and so I think, as of right now, I want to go to marketing/consulting, but if I do find another interest within consulting, I'm more than happy to like switch over just because consulting another one of those fields that you can just kind of like explore like it. That's why consulting is such a good industry to go into after college, and so I'm really just like, really open to where, in consulting, I go into.

HOD, I feel like really prepares you for that. My dream job, I guess. after that, is to go into marketing leadership at some company. I think that's something that I really wanna do when I'm older. But yeah, as in terms of that stuff, I think that is really just that I am just really interested in that. And if I wanna go end up going into like something like investment banking where math is very, very heavy, I can do that with my math degree. So that's kind of just kind of opening up the playing field for me if I do, wanna go into finance or investment making, which I'm also open to as well after college.

GABBY:

Yeah, a lot of versatility here is what I'm seeing.

RILEY:

Yeah, hopefully, hopefully, yeah.

GABBY:

I love how it ties in with your passions. You're kind of, in a way, a consulter now with your social media page and your Tiktok advising juniors and seniors. I think it's really it's really nice to see how it all connects together, especially like we’re doing now connects to your career in the future.

RILEY:

Yeah, it's kind of cool. The whole math major thing is like the last thing I expected cause like I was actually pulled out of the accelerated pathway in middle school because my mom was like, you can't handle this and I was like, yeah, I can't. But you know, here I am! And that's why I'm saying I never really expected myself to be interested in something like this. But like I think just the math department is so strong at Vanderbilt, and so I mean, like, I wanna take advantage of it. And so I think that's another reason why I’m doing it.

GABBY:

Yeah, and I have a lot of respect for that! I have a couple of friends that are math majors. I have this one friend. He reads calculus textbooks in his free time. And I'm like you're amazing for that!

RILEY:

I’m not that extreme!

GABBY:

Yeah, it's a very rare type of person to enjoy reading the math textbook!

RILEY:

Yeah, yeah, definitely, I respect that! I'm not that extreme though. But you know I'll do some calculus problems. That's if I want to. But you know, yeah.

GABBY:

So we're gonna shift gears a little and talk more about you and your time at Vanderbilt. How did you get there? What was your college admissions, pathway? What did it first look like when you kind of knew, Okay, this is it. I'm gonna be, you know, attending Vanderbilt University?

RILEY:

Yeah! In terms of my timeline to get here. I really started to think about college in junior year. I knew it was something I wanted for a lot of my life, I wanted to go to a four year university; my parents are in the public education system, and so like they never really pressured me to go a certain pathway, or probably cared. I could have gone to community college, or I'm from California, obviously the UC system is very popular. Like they really did not care either way. But I personally knew I wanted to go to like a private school, midsize, in a big city.

But at the time that didn't really seem attainable just again, coming from my background and coming from like what type of school I came from. Most kids went to state schools and community college. And so a private school is kind of like, what are you thinking? But when the college process actually started, I applied to a lot of schools, and I think like, in short, I was getting , wait-listed by a lot, and if I did get it accepted. I wasn’t getting money from any of them. Financial aid was a big factor in my decision to whatever college I ended up going to. And so, yeah, throughout March and February, it was a really stressful period. Just because again, I was either getting accepted and not getting any money or getting waitlisted.

And so it really started to work out for me at the very, very, very end of college application season in that like last few days of March, when Vanderbilt came out and I didn't really expect Vanderbilt. It was like I think my number 2 choice. It was one of my top choices and I would have been happy with any of them, but I didn't really expect to get in. And then I got in, and like they not only accepted me, but gave me enough money to go, and so it kinda just like all tied together at the very end, like I really didn't know what I was gonna do until the day I got into Vanderbilt cause I was actually gonna commit to UCLA, taking a bunch of loans, I ended up not getting financial aid, which I didn't really want to do. So really, it really did work out all the end. And I know that's like something that a lot of people say, and just like throw it in the air and like it really has no weight anymore. But I beg to differ, because, like it really did like work out for me at the very, very, very end. And it really only took that one school to accept me and give the money to go for me to attend something that I didn't even ever expect to.

And so I really tell that to people a lot. If you don't think it's gonna work out, don't lose hope, because it really only takes one school. I know. You see, all these people getting into like 10 schools like 15 schools. But I really just try to reassure people that it only takes one school. At the end of the day, you're only choosing one school. And so that's really the only thing that matters.

So, yeah, that's like my timeline and since coming here I've really loved it. Vanderbilt has exceeded all my expectations. Honestly, I absolutely love being able to travel back and forth from home to here, and I love the people here. Vanderbilt has a really good work hard, play hard balance, and also a very non-competitive environment, that I feel like you couldn’t see in like a top institution.

GABBY:

Definitely.

RILEY:

But like since coming here, I've never felt the sense of competition in my class. Everyone's super collaborative and, I think, part of that comes with like Vanderbilt's emphasis on the whole idea of community and the way they structure their freshman/first-year experience. And so, like, I definitely think that, again, it's exceeded all my expectations. I really do enjoy it here. And yeah, I think like one complaint, though ise the food. But you know what college is like. You can't really too much about that! But I just love it. I love my roommate, I love my friends, I love the opera classes, the opportunities I have been able to get here, and I have no regrets, like no regrets at all. So that's kind of how that whole thing worked out.

GABBY:

Yeah, I love that. I think a really important thing here to stress is, you know, you'll end up, my mom told me this all the time, you end up where you're meant to be.

RILEY;

Yes.

GABBY:

I think, in the process, I think juniors and seniors really like lose sight of that. They're really stressed about their top choice. And is this where I'm supposed to be? Why aren’t things falling into place for me? Why isn't this happening for me? And I think just the main thing to remember is that you're gonna end up where you're supposed to be. You know that might be your first choice, that might not be your first choice. But at the end of the day, it's going to be where you're meant to go and prosper and go and get that degree and go live your dream job and things like that. So I think that's really important.

I think your story really, really highlights that. With Tiktok and social media, all you see is Class of 2027 getting into their top schools and you're sitting there thinking, well, it's not working out for me. I think a really big piece is just remembering you're gonna end up where you're supposed to end up.

RILEY:

Yeah, and heavy on the, even if it's not your first choice. I think there's this misconception about it working out for you means that you get into your top choice. I don't think that. There's no relationship between that. I think you can learn to understand that something works out it doesn't have to like all just like work out and you/re like, oh, my God! It worked out for me! I think it's more common to learn that it doesn’t work out. If you don't end up going to like a school that is your top choice. Things like that. And so, I think for a lot of my friends that was very evident, too, like they ended up not going to their top choice, but they love their experience at whatever school they're at right now, and they learned to understand that this was what was meant to be and so I think that's really important. And that puts it a little bit more into reality.

But yeah, for sure. I think the college application is so stressful. I personally had a lot of friends to like early action to a lot of schools and ED’d (early decision) to a lot of schools and were getting into their top choices. And I was like, that was not me. I did not ED or EA anywhere, and so it was just really difficult for me to see that. And I had to wait 3 months until it all, you know, fell into place. Sometimes it takes a little bit more than we more time than we expect.

GABBY:

Yeah, definitely!

And also remembering everyone's journey is different. I can also relate to the friends EDing and EAing. I came from a very competitive high school. So everyone's trying to get into Ivy's. Everyone's trying to get into that top choice. Personally, I'm too anxious to do the whole ED committing. I guess the only commitment I did is Posse scholarship, and I ended up getting it so it was the commitment on my end there, but everything else I was kinda like I can't. I can't commit to you without seeing the entire deal. The entire package. I think that's just something to remember that not everybody's journey is gonna look the same.

RILEY:

Oh, absolutely!

GABBY:

Your best friend isn't gonna you know, do the same pathway.

I think that's funny to mention, because me and my friend in seventh grade, when we were little, ambitious seventh graders had a plan. We were going to go to the same college. We made this entire binder with this plan. And you know it's funny. We signed it. It was something! And it's funny to think because we're not anywhere near where we were gonna be at. Actually not even on the top 50 lists that we had. So it's really funny to see where things end up and how it happens. And where people go. But I think that's all a part of the college process.

RILEY:

Absolutely.

GABBY:

And just, you know, learning to trust it and go with the flow.

RILEY:

Yeah, and it's so hard to hear that when you're in the process. Like my friend. Oh, my God! She was honestly my rock, my best friend from home. She was always telling me it's all gonna work out, just like leave it be. You literally can't change anything after you submit it. Which is so true. And she would remind me of that. And she was very pragmatic and very realistic with me, and she reminded me that I just have to like let it go.

But it was really hard to hear that when I was like really stressed out. And I can tell anybody listening who is in this like position, when you're getting that advice and feeling really like hopeless and anxious like trust me, I was in the same position. But you don't know how your life can change in this next month or so. It could change in any direction like really, nobody knows. And so just use that as a symbol of hope that it could go anywhere you envision it to go, and you don't know until you actually get there. So that's what I would say honestly, and that's what I would keep telling myself when March rolled around.

GABBY:

Yeah, definitely.

On the topic of advice and talking about that, what piece of advice would you give to the student looking to explore your major specifically, applying to Vanderbilt, or looking into applying the event to build or anything of that sort?

RILEY:

Yeah, I think, like for Vanderbilt. specifically,what we really what we're really strong in is sort of that like business side of things, business, and premed. I think that's something that we're really strong in. But specifically for Vanderbilt, the HOD major again, is really specific to our school, and if you are interested in kind of anything, business, social impact related social entrepreneurship related, the HOD program can be for you.

And in terms of a lot of other schools, I think if you are someone like me who is lndecsive with what you actually wanna do, go to Vanderbilt to be able to change really easily. You don't have to declare until sophomore year, because I know, for example, at UCLA, if I had committed there, I would literally have no freedom and be able to change my nature. I actually got in as like human biology, and like I don't even want to go into that like why would I do that! But I would not have been able to change it if I went to UCLA so choose a school that allows you to be flexible if you are someone like me who isn't really sure or changes their minds a lot. I think Vanderbilt's really good.

I think my biggest piece of advice is showing and really telling your story. I think your application, your whole entire application is just like a story that you need to tell and that you're trying to like market yourself to the admissions offices through. And so telling your story includes being authentic, but also making sure that everything has a theme to it, and kind of has some cohesive like element to it. And so I think that's like my biggest piece of advice to anybody applying to any university. I think that's the biggest thing.

GABBY:

Yeah, I really like that. I agree with everything you said. Just really going back to the whole conversation we had earlier. Really trusting the process. And you'll end up where you're supposed to end up. Definitely looking at all of your options. Pros and cons lists. You mentioned that you wouldn't have that flexibility to change your major like you have a Vanderbilt. I think that's a really big thing to look at these colleges, especially when you’re at the March Point, April point, where May 1st you have to make a commitment. Just really looking at the pros accounts of these schools that have accepted you. Looking at the different aspects like financial aid. Do you have the freedom to change your major? Are you going to be stuck in that same subject that you're like,I hate this? Are you gonna say, for the next 4 years, I hate this?Are you gonna dread it?

RILEY:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm still gonna have that flexibility. Cause I don't know what I would have done in biology, like. No, that's just not for me!

GABBY:

I think on my end. That's all the questions I have today. Is there anything else that you wanna tell our listeners?

RILEY:

I think just again, really try to understand that getting into college is literally one step. And you're college is only like 4 years of your life, and I think once you look at that in the whole context of your life, it really put into perspective. How your journey is not impacted in any major way, simply by the college you go to. it can be impacted by so much.

Understanding that college is only 4 years of your life and that college application season is only at most 9 months of your life. Just really thinking about that really puts it into perspective and really makes college applications seem not the end of the world, which I feel like. It's a big perception within this period of life. And so that's again easier said than done to like. Think about it, but really, just try to understand that like it's not the end at all.

And if you don't feel like it's the end for you, it's not. There's so many other places where you can like end up. Your journey is not dictated by whatever top colleges you go to. You can go to a college, end up with your dream job and vice versa. You could go to college you really love and not end up with the job that you wanted. It can go any way. And college is not the determinant of that. I would just say that if anyone is a little bit anxious during the season.

GABBY:

Yeah, I love that!

Thank you, Riley, for you know, have a sitting down at me having this conversation, and just, you know, giving all your words of wisdom to our listeners out there, you know, anxious fresh or upcoming freshmen, or anybody interested in that college process.

RILEY:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you so much for having me. I really like this.

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