Choosing A College

The first thing a high school student needs to do is take the ACT or SAT. I recommend taking it more than once. I personally took it 7 times, but 2 is enough. After you have a satisfying score you need to start looking at colleges. Start with the local colleges and universities and even the community and junior colleges. Not everyone is ready for the full size Division 1 school with 50,000 students, and that's OK. Start by going to the websites and seeing if the school even offers the major or program that you want to pursue.

After you've been to a few websites, and gain more interest in different places, you need to set up a visit. I visited about 7 different places, and re-visited 5. I wanted to be sure of where I wanted to go because college is a huge step. There are too many students that go away to school and are back home after fall quarter or semester because they aren't happy with where they are. This can ultimately lead to dropping out. So set up your visit (you can find this on most college's website or a guidance counselor can help), and go learn and have fun.

Don't go to a school for the name. Let me say that again, DON'T GO TO A SCHOOL FOR THE NAME. As mentioned before, you don't want to go to (State) University because they have a great athletic program (unless you are a prospective college athlete). That university just may not fit you, and that's OK.

Now, you've toured some places and have narrowed down your choices a bit. Time to start applying. Send out applications to at least your top three schools, and then to one or two that you liked but aren't sure about. APPLY EARLY! It is much easier to get into a major college if you apply by Thanksgiving and Winter break. Don't let rejection get you down. Some colleges may deny you admission, so what. That doesn't mean your college dreams are over with at all. Shrug it off, some colleges may deny you admission, and then reconsider you in a couple months. Keep in mind that you don't want to apply to every college under the sun, most major universities charge you an application fee between $40 and $70. When you visit some places (before you apply) you can ask for an application fee waiver, which means you won't have to pay to apply. When you apply, there is usually a personal essay section. Do this on Microsoft Word, and not in your Internet browser (if applying online). If you do it in the browser, and the page refreshes or anything, you essay is lost. Do it in Word, and save frequently. Take your time on these essays. If your academics aren't amazing, the essay section is your chance to prove that you are college material, and that you can fit into that university. Save these essays, you may be able to use them for other applications. Take your essays to you English teacher in you high school, and have them review it for you, I'm glad I did, it made a huge difference!

So, now you have been accepted to a couple places. CONGRATULATIONS! Maybe you know where you want to go now, maybe not. There's still time. Let's keep narrowing it down. This is the biggest factor for most students, MONEY. On my next blog I will get into detail how to get extra money for college that even the financial aid offices don't want you to know. For now, don't stress too hard over money. The most obvious advice I can give you is to apply for the FAFSA. Let's repeat this too APPLY FOR THE FAFSA!!! You might think that your parents make too much money to get aid from the FAFSA, but you may be wrong. It's not all about total income, there are a lot of factors taken into consideration. You might not get grants, but you could be up for some Federal Loans that you can wait to start paying off until after you graduate college, which most banks won't do. So, again APPLY FOR THE FAFSA!!!

So you're applied for the FAFSA, and received some financial aid packages from schools and you see what school is offering you the best offer. Great. If there is a huge difference in the schools' packages, and you would be happy at either place, then your decision could be much easier now.

Regardless, when you are down to your final decision, visit again. Go the campus one more time to be sure that this is where you could potentially spend the next 4 years (or more) of your life. This time, meet with someone in the academic department involved with the major of your choice. I never though to do this until I went to visit a small Division 3 college, and I was automatically set up to visit the head of the department. It was an amazing experience, and I learned a lot about the school and program. That's definitely one of the advantages of a small college or even junior college.

After you made your final visit, and are sure of where you want to go, it's time to... BREATHE! Great, you've made it this far. Send in your housing deposit to verify enrollment, and focus on the rest of your senior year of high school. REMEMBER, you have to send the university a final transcript, so don't slack for your second semester, because the college will see that!

Recap- Take the ACT or SAT, visit some colleges' websites, take some tours, send out applications, fill out the FAFSA, look at your financial aid packages, make a decision, take a final tour, meet with staff in your department of choice, send housing deposit, send final transcript, and BREATHE!

In my next blog I will tell you how to get the most money from the college of your choice. I will tell you secrets that even the financial aid offices don't want you to know about!!!