Ivy League or Presidental Scholarship?

West's Mansolillo ponders college prospects

The Cranston Herald ·

Cranston High School West’s Marc Mansolillo has a tough choice to make.

Out of a pool of 2400 total applicants, he was recently offered a prestigious, four-year full tuition and fees Presidential Scholarship at Villanova University after having competed in a three-day interview process against 49 other finalists at the school in February. He was nominated for the scholarship by his guidance counselor, Deana Golini, and as part of the application process he also completed a total of eight essays on topics such as civic engagement, leadership, life obstacles, hobbies and creativity.

“I interviewed with a ten-person committee for the nursing major and then with a second committee for the underrepresented students,” said Mansolillo, who is considered an underrepresented student because he is a male nursing student going into a primarily female major.

“I was the only one of the 49 applicants chosen to do both,” he said. “I now had double the chances because I was interviewing with both committees.”

The Presidential Scholarship covers the cost of tuition, room and board, books and meals, which adds up to roughly $63,000 a year.

However, just as he was considering Villanova as a top choice school (he’s gotten into a total of nine others including Georgetown and Boston College), Mansolillo received the news just last week that he has been accepted into his top choice school, the University of Pennsylvania.

With that news, he is now feeling torn.

“My decision changes every day,” Mansolillo said. “Growing up I always wanted to go to an Ivy League school. I went into high school wanting to really apply myself for four years and apply to an Ivy League School. It’s going to be a hard decision.”

No matter which school he attends, Mansolillo knows that it speaks volumes that he is entering a field in which males are still underrepresented.

“There is a lot of opportunity for males to get accepted to schools for nursing, and Marc really took advantage of that,” said Golini.

Mansolillo chose the nursing route over the medical school route because of his passion for one-on-one patient care and advocacy. He has had the opportunity to engage in several different nursing internships as part of his Medical Pathways program at CACTC, each with a different focus, which has helped him to really hone in on his future goals. He has determined that he would like to pursue being a nurse anesthetist, which also focuses on math, another passion of his. “I’ve become active through the Medical Pathways program,” said Mansolillo. “I’ve always loved nursing and there’s a broad spectrum of things in the nursing field you can do. I’ve always wanted to help people and to give adequate health care.”

Being a nurse also aligns well with Mansolillo’s personal and spiritual beliefs and philosophies.

“I’ve always been a very spiritual person and I wanted to apply to schools that work in service to others as part of their curriculum,” he said. “For me it’s not just about being a nurse, it’s about service to others and taking my religious morals and applying them to nursing.”

Mansolillo knows that although the decision before him is a daunting one, it is a good problem to have and it comes as a result of four years of hard work. He now awaits the arrival of his financial aid package from UPenn and is hoping it’s a close match to his full ride at Villanova, as it remains his top choice college over all the others.

“College is expensive, and it upsets me,” he said. “I personally feel that it’s unfair to have to spend so much money, so getting this full ride opportunity has liberated me. It’s lifted off all of the pressure and the financial burden off of my parents’ backs. They have no worries at all about the additional cost. It’s a great school with great values and a great education at zero dollars.”

He also knows that the acceptances, merit aid and scholarships he has received have not been handed to him for no reason at all. He emphasized that it is a result of four years of hard work, as well as a great deal of support from those around him.

“From my freshman year on, I worked hard, I stayed up late studying, I stopped at nothing,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that during my high school experience I did everything I could. I have had incessant support from my Medical Pathways teachers, my family, my friends and from Ms. Golini.”

National Decision Day for college decisions is May 1.