California State University-Northridge Top Questions

If finances are an issue, I would highly recommend attending a two-year community college and then transferring to a four-year college. Make sure you do some research about the schools in your area and take note of the transfer rate of the students of those schools. Make sure they have a high transfer rate and that they offer courses that transfer to the school you are hoping to transfer to. Even if finances aren't a problem, I have found the quality of education recieved in a community college to be as good, if not beyond what you would find even in the most renowned four-year universities. Wherever you go, make sure when you get there that you feel that you are truly learning something. Make sure you are being challenged. And make sure you love where you end up.

To Parents: Allow your child to make his/her choice. You may go with them to take care of his/her paperwork, but allow your child to do all the talking when necessary. He/she is now an adult and will have to learn to speak for his or herself. Make sure to visit the campus before applying, if possible take a private tour. Visiting a campus before applying will save you application costs if the school turns out to be less than expected. To make the best out of college it would be ideal your child does not have to worry about finances as a priority. To Prospective Student: The websites offer something differnet from an acutal campus visit, go and see if you feel this can be a home away from home for the next 4-5 years. It may sound redundant, but TAKE ADVANTAGE of the campus resources!! Get to know people on campus beside peers. Getting to know Administrators, Counselors, and Professors can make you feel you belong there. Join clubs/organizations, keeping people who have the same goals as you will help you stay focused. It can be a better experience, if you try!

I would advise parents and students to really research different schools. I also feel that after they have a set of potential schools that they go and physically visit them. Being at the school in person is really the only way to see how the school is, a school website only shows what they want to show. Also go where you would be happy, you and not want someone else wants for you is what is important. Also GOOD LUCK :)

Talk to people.

Go for the college that offers the degree you are interested in. Visit the campus before you make your final decision to attend the school! If you're able, live on campus to experience every aspect of college life. Most of all, don't be shy; make friends and have fun!

Make sure that you look at what each college has to offer, there are a lot of people who go to a college and it doesn't even have the major that they want, so they pay the money and end up transfering anyway. i would say community college first would be better, it is easier and you can get your GPA really high, so that when you get to the university and you don't do so well you don't have to worry about your GPA falling really low. To get the most of the college experience would be to join clubs and sororities and fraternities, make lots of friends. it really helps. it is way easier to go to college knowing what you want to major in than it is to go in undecided.

Any parent or student who wishes to choose a college should always remember that he or she needs to pick a college based on what he or she wishes to do in life, and that not picking a college that is well suited to a person can lead to headache and frustration. A college should be something to help a person attain his or her goals, not hinder that person. That, of course, is dependant on the financial situation of any person, seeing as how someone cannot attend a college that will cost more than he or she can pay for, and still keep a roof over his or her head and food on the table. The quality of a person's life is thus more important than nearly anything else, and if that quality will be diminished by going to a school that costs more (unless able to receive boons such as financial aid), then that school should not be considered as much as another, more cost-effective school.

Go somewhere where you will be out of your comfort zone...somewhere where Mom and Dad are not so easily accessible, this way you learn the most about yourself and it helps you become an adult and mature responsibly.

Do alot of research, consider you future goals/plans, and make sure to visit the campus before applying.

I would tell them to research a couple schools, visit them and narrow it down to the one they like the best. I would also tell the student not to be afraid to travel away from home because in the end it will highly benefit them by helping them grow socially and as a person.