As we near the end of the year, Mount Carmel seniors are tasked with deciding what their future will hold after graduation. Students have a variety of options, such as staying in-state at a four-year institution, traveling to a different state and getting farther away from home, or starting at a local community college as a more affordable way to complete general requirements. Tim McNamara, who grew up in Beverly, has chosen the first option.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a family tradition for McNamara; his dad and grandpa went there, along with 11 of his cousins. He applied only to three schools, and saw the U. of I. as more of a “reach school.”  But he knew all along that if he was accepted, that would be his future.  Ultimately, he was admitted and will enroll in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences for the next four years.

“I think it might be difficult at first to get my bearings,” noted McNamara about transitioning  from a small high school of only 600 students to such a large university, with over 44,000 students. He also notes that not many other Mount Carmel students will be attending the U of I this fall, so he cannot count on a lot of his current friends easing the transition. However, McNamara is excited for his future at the school and hopes it will be a great experience.

McNamara is one of many MC students to decide to stay in-state for the next four years. Because of a discounted tuition for in-state students, McNamara will be able to save roughly $15,000 on tuition per year, compared to the out of state costs for the school. Tuition is slightly over $30,000 for students coming from different states.

This is another in an ongoing mcccaravan.org series profiling college plans of the Class of 2017.