(From left to right) Alexis, Brandon, Christina and Dominique Scott.
By Madeline Bartos | Staff Writer
On move-in day you watch your parents drive away with your sibling in the back seat, and you know you won’t be seeing them for a while. For the four Scott siblings, however, their parents dropped them off at Duquesne on the same day.
Alexis, a communications major; Christina, a forensic science law major; Brandon, a marketing major; and Dominique, a business management major, are quadruplets in the class of 2020. They’re adjusting to college at the same time and on the same campus.
Coming from 30 minutes outside of Baltimore, all four of them decided to attend Duquesne. A few other schools they considered were Howard, West Virginia and George Mason University. One stipulation for their choice, though, was that they were looking to choose the same school.
“Our parents wanted us to go to school together on the off chance we’d all graduate on the same day,” Christina said. “They didn’t want to split up or anything.”
Duquesne isn’t a big campus, and the Scotts’ paths cross often. Alexis and Brandon live in Saint Ann Hall and Christina and Dominique live in Assumption Hall. Brandon and Dominique have two classes together, too. They also all run in the same group, making it hard to avoid each other.
“I used to be like, ‘I don’t want to go to college with my siblings,’” Alexis said. “But we’ve lived our entire lives together. Of course, we were born the exact same day. So for us to be like ‘Oh, I’ll see you on Thanksgiving,’ that’s so weird. This is a good way to work ourselves gradually from each other since we don’t see each other every day, but they’re still here.”
While some have the immediate response to ditch their siblings as soon as they get to college, the Scotts agreed the transition into college was easier together. They all had each other, but coming to the campus early helped, too.
“Brandon and I were here over the summer so we had some friends and it was easier to transition,” Dominique said.
“You always have someone,” Christina said. “If you’re alone, you have to find your way by yourself. But having four other people here, it’s not as hard. Some situations don’t have to be as awkward as they could be because you have someone else to be there with you.”
Adjusting to college may have been easier for Scotts, but moving in was a bit more difficult.
“Our dad rented a 15 person van because if he would have gotten a U-Haul we couldn’t fit the people,” Alexis said. “So we took the seats out and put our stuff in the back. We still barely fit,”
Picking a college is difficult, but it’s even more difficult when trying to get four people to agree. Duquesne’s preview days meant they ended up visiting the campus more than any other college they were considering.
“When it came down to our majors, we had preview days,” Brandon said. “So we came down here a few times.”
The biggest deciding factor was a forensic science program for Alexis, since most schools don’t have one. Duquesne offers a Masters of Science in Forensic Science and Law Program, a five year program, which was a good fit for Alexis.
The Scotts were worried about the small campus, but when it was decision time, they realized a smaller class size would be ideal.
“Every time we got here, we just fell in love with it more and more,” Alexis said.
So what happens if you end up on the same campus as a sibling?
“I feel like you should embrace it,” Brandon said.
