By Leah Dwyer
Image of Gabrielle Bohrman and Tim Bohrman
No, you’re not seeing double, Purchase College has seen quite a few siblings this semester.
Siblings attending the same college is a phenomenon not all that uncommon. “One-fifth of younger siblings enroll in the same college as their older siblings,” according to Harvard.edu.
Purchase has witnessed first-hand the influence older siblings have. Senior arts management and journalism major Gabrielle Bohrman and sophomore journalism major Ella Gotbaum describe similar stories behind their push towards their freshman brothers’ decision to choose Purchase.
“Purchase has kind of a very specific culture, so either you kind of fit in or you don’t, and he’s definitely the artsy and kind of liberal outgoing type so I was like ‘you will like it here,’”
Bohrman says about her freshman film major brother Tim.
“I told him about the creative nature of the students here and the opportunities and resources he would have access to,” said Gotbaum.
Gotbaum and Bohrman, having experienced the campus firsthand, wanted to give their brothers a similar experience in which they can attend a campus that not only suits their personality, but allows them to succeed in their fields of study.
Gotbaum and Bohrman both described a desire to show their brothers around campus. Saying that being at the same college allows them to help navigate and show their younger siblings the ropes, acting as a tour guide of sorts.
Forbes in their article, “Students Follow Their Older Siblings to College,” notes that “students are between 9.5 and 15.5 percent more likely to apply to the college where their sibling is enrolled.
Shane Seaman, the executive director of marketing and communications at Purchase, sums up the sibling influence saying, “If one student has an excellent experience, a sibling may be more likely to want to come here.”
Contrary to both Bohrman and Gotbaum, Reneé Medina, a sophomore, describes her decision to attend Purchase alongside her twin sister, Chloë.
“I mainly chose Purchase to be with my sister and because of the atmosphere,” said Medina. “Having my sibling attend the same school as me is honestly amazing. I would not have it any other way!”
Medina described having her sister there gave her an immediate and permanent friend, “It is possible to create long-lasting friendships on campus, but friends come and go. Siblings are with you forever.”