Mia Symoniak on Academics

HS PRS
3k: 10:29
1500: 4:59

College PRS
10k: 38:14
5k: 18:26
3k: 10:34

Year 2010
Major Psychology, Minor Creative Writing
High School Amherst Central
Hometown Buffalo, NY


What other Colleges were you looking at?
SUNY Geneseo, American University, Dickinson

Why did you decide on Allegheny?
Allegheny has a really good neuroscience and psychology program. I also really liked the campus and the size of the school.

How did you go about choosing your major?
I’ve always been interested in psychology. I actually came in as a neuroscience major but found that all of my favorite courses were ones in the psychology major so I decided to switch over.

What do you plan to do after you graduate from Allegheny?
I’d like to go to graduate school for child psychology.

How has being on a successful track and/or cross country team helped you with school?
Being on the team really helps me stay focused. I know that everything I do is a reflection of the team. My GPA factors into the team GPA just like my races factor into our team scores. Also, a lot of my classes have somebody else from the team in them so if I’m not in class that day then I’ve got somebody asking where I was that afternoon in practice.

What unique opportunities have you had through attending Allegheny (internships, research, etc...)?
Allegheny offers a lot of unique opportunities that many other undergraduate programs do not offer. This summer I participated in graduate level research with one of my professors. We’re planning on bringing our research to a national conference in Chicago in the beginning of March and I just started outlining a paper which we are planning on submitting to a well respected national journal. I’m also tutoring at-risk children in the Meadville community through Allegheny’s ACCEL program. None of the other colleges that I looked at offer the types of opportunities that Allegheny does.