Principia College:
Admissions
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East Coast Admissions Counselor
Matt Shaw
 As a high schooler, Matt had no idea where he wanted to go for college. His Sunday School teacher recommended Principia, but Matt immediately dismissed it. “I could not imagine getting a ‘real college experience’ at such a small school,” he remarks. However, Matt decided to come on a college visiting weekend, and by the end of it, he knew Principia was the school for him. “I came back from the weekend with a sense of community that I had never experienced before. The fact that everyone at the school was a Christian Scientist made it so easy to open up to people.” “When I went off to college,” Matt recalls, “my dad told me that the one thing I must do in college is ‘try new things.’ I have always been hesitant to step out of my comfort zone, so I wondered if I could follow my dad’s advice. Once I got to Principia, I found that it was not an issue; not only were there plenty of opportunities, but there were people who encouraged me along the way.” One such person was the resident counselor (an adult who lives in each dorm to provide a helping hand) in Matt’s upperclassman dorm: “he viewed me as a leader and helped me become president of my house. I have gained many life skills from that experience.” Looking back on his four years at Principia, Matt realizes that the small student body actually enhanced his college experience. “I play the drums, and freshman year I started a band that turned hymns from the Christian Science Hymnal into rock songs. I designed websites for professors, took photographs for the yearbook, played in the Ultimate Frisbee tournament, and worked as a teaching assistant in the business department. Principia’s award-winning Solar Car also played a big role in Matt’s college experience. As a member of the electrical team all four years, Matt traveled on two extensive races – including one to Taiwan. “The Taiwan trip was an all-expense-paid trip to spend two weeks experiencing Taiwanese culture and racing our solar car. We were only one of two US colleges invited to the race.” A month following Matt’s graduation, he helped the Solar Car team prepare for a cross-country race from Texas to Canada, in which Principia’s Ra 7 finished second. Matt values the breadth of his experience at Principia: “Gaining a strong skill like problem solving is easy when working on the Solar Car team – but being a leader of my dorm was really breaking out of my shell. The best part was realizing how those separate experiences overlapped to teach me life skills!” Contact Matt: |