Are you ready to make one of the biggest decisions in your life?
We’re talking about picking a college, and it’s time to give it some serious effort.
Your final decision won’t come until your senior year, but you need to get on track to have time to make the best decision.
- Talk with your parents and friends about your academic and career interests. Maybe you can pick up some helpful hints.
- Research careers by talking to your guidance counselor, searching online, or talking to someone who’s already doing the job you’d like to have some day.
- Find out what type of education is required for the field in which you are interested and ask yourself if you qualify and if you’re willing to put in the time and work to get there.
- Make a list of what’s most important to you at college – price, distance from home, public, private, size, location, activities, academic programs, athletics, etc.
- Look for colleges and universities that meet your criteria. It’s especially easy if you start online, and colleges are always willing to send more information.
- Make sure you check out costs, financial aid, and potential scholarships at each college. There also are numerous online scholarship searches.
- Start taking the college entrance tests. If you know what types of colleges you like, you can decide which test to take – ACT or SAT or both. Many students take them more than once to improve their scores.
- Meet with college representatives who come to your school for individual visits or college fairs. They are the experts about what their college can offer you.
- By second semester you should start narrowing down your list of possible colleges.
- Visit campuses. That’s the best way to get to know a college and whether it’s right for you. By starting your visits now, continuing through the summer, and finishing off your visits in the fall of your senior year, you will have enough time to visit your top choices at least once.
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