The colleges students go to affect various areas of their individual lives, this makes picking the right college to attend an important decision that requires careful thinking. Incorporate these 10 steps listed below into your thinking and you are good to go.
- Compile a list of potential colleges
- State your academic goals and priorities
- Take a visit to the colleges
- Digest the college brochures with caution
- Compare the financial requirements of the colleges
- Revisit the colleges
- Check out the housing conditions
- Talk with some of their students
- Check and confirm job connections
- Discuss with your family
Table of Contents
Compile a list of potential colleges
This is the very first step to choosing the right college. Have educative conversations with your school counselor, teachers, or your legal guardian, to help compile a list of colleges that you wish to go to. Write down their college recommendations and make in-depth research on them before you decide on the college to attend. It is very possible that while conducting your research, you find other colleges that interest you, and this initial list of recommendations becomes useless.
Most admission experts have concluded that students should apply to multiple schools. Your list should contain a minimum of 10 colleges that offer courses closely related to your future ambition.
State your academic goals and priorities
Your academic priorities and goals will greatly influence the type of college you end up going to. Your academic ambition determines the school (a medical student will have to go to a medical school, and a student aspiring to become an artist has to go to a school of art)
Other priorities like the distance of the college from home, and extracurricular activities also influence your choice of college. You have to decide and list your priorities in a college to help guide you during your decision-making.
Take a visit to the colleges
After applying, it is now time to visit the schools you have in mind so you can have a feel of how campus life goes. You might think the information you obtained from the college’s directory, school website, or the internet should be enough to make a decision, but it isn’t! Taking a look around the college in person gives deeper insights into the institution’s way of life.
Digest the college brochures with caution
Your email is going to be filled with college brochures after you apply to these colleges but I can boldly tell you that they are not truthful, they only contain the positive attributes of the institutions.
This is why I suggest that you visit the institutions to verify the information you have been gathering for a while.
Compare the financial requirements of the colleges
Acceptance letters and financial aid award letters will reach you after you submit your application to the institutions on your list. You can then compare the financial requirements and the financial aid package, it is advisable to select the institution with a better financial aid package to ease your financial worries in the nearest future.
Revisit the colleges
It is about time for another campus tour, this can help you a lot in making the right decision for your ambition. It might be difficult to go to the colleges again as it might be expensive, but you can have a second look through a virtual tour. Most institutions are taking virtual reality seriously nowadays.
Check out the housing conditions
It is very important to check the condition in which you will be living in for the next couple of years. You should also get to know if you would be getting accommodation on campus or not. You also need to investigate if the houses are fun to live in.
Talk with some of their students
The discussion you have with students already in the institution is the best description you can get of the institution. The comments of students expose the negative side the college is trying to hide.
Check and confirm job connections
This is very important as it has to deal with your career life after school. Some schools have career centers that offer their graduates well-paying jobs since that is the ultimate reason behind going to college.
Discuss with your family
Your parents and other family members already have prior knowledge about how colleges operate, so it’s best to discuss your decisions with them so they can guide you through.
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Final Thoughts
With these tips, I hope you enter the most suitable college for you and also have fun.
