Colorado College Top Questions

Take time to do your research & Get involved!!

To find the right college, there is only one true way. You must either know, or meet someone who is an uperclassman or recently graduated student. The administration simply cares about doing anything to get you to their school. The faculty just want to keep their jobs. It is the students that know the real deal, the students that aren't afraid to tell, the students whose lives are completey determined by the rules the administration creates, or the work the professors asign. The truth (or as close to it as possible) lies with the students, the (mostly) unbiased students. College is made out to be the best four years of your life. Each student gets to choose the place they want to stay for this most amazing time period. A studentunderstands the importance of this choice, a student is still currently living up their four years, and a student would never tell a lie that may hinder another's happiness regarding college. The truth lies with the body that thrives, the student body.

Finding the right college is like finding your favorite pair of shoes. They fit the moment you put them on and they are the most comfortable shoes you have ever worn. The more you wear these shoes the more you feel like they are a part of you. You start to leave your imprint in the sole of these shoes and you know your mark there can never be erased or replaced. When your time with these shoes is finally up, they being too worn to wear any longer, you put them on the top shelf in your closet. You never throw them away. They represent an important time in your life as you remember almost everything you did in those shoes. Sometimes you take them out of the closet and show them to your new friends. By talking about your old favorite shoes you are talking about part of what makes you unique, how you became the person you are. These shoes do not define you; rather, you wore them during many of the defining moments in your life. The right college fits just like those shoes.

Consider how much it is going to cost you in the long run. Look for as many scholarship and grant options as possible. Make informed decisions about where you want to go to college, not where your family wants you to go.

Follow your gut when you're deciding where you want to go. Don't let money or location dictate which college you choose. Most importantly, have fun. Live, learn, grow, and remember that every single college freshman is in a new place, trying to meet new people. You're not alone. It takes time to make good friends and to find the teachers you love, but once you do, they'll be on yuur side for a lifetime.

Decide the size of the school you want first and then the location.

My advice to anyone experiencing the confusion that is the college selection process, is do not pick a school for its name. If you want to go to a school just to say you go to that school, then you probably should no go there. What really matters is a place where you can do the things you love and people will love you for them. I think it is important to find a place where it facilitates a student's need to step outside their comfort zone. Only at a school like this, will a student be able to learn and grow positively into the kind of person they will be out in "the real world".

The more effort expended to find the perfect school, the better college experience a student will have. The first step is to determine best category of school. Work tendencies must be considered; for example if a student picked one activity in high school, like soccer, and stuck with it at any cost then this student will probably succeed in a specialized environment like engineering or art school. However a student who performed in the school play while balancing the swim team, a job, and National Honors Society would enjoy a liberal arts school where she can experiment before choosing a concentration. Once a type of school has been selected, the livability of each must be considered. Factors like size and quality of dorms are important, but the student body and climate are examples of factors that cannot be ignored. A student might be able to deal with a dungeon-like dorm room if he?s got great friends at the school. Someone else might find the humidity in the Northwest to be unbearable despite an ideal living situation. Finally, money must be consider. A college experience is worthless if a student (or his parents) is drowning in debt upon graduating.

Start your college search early. Visit the colleges, attend classes, and ask current students about their experiences. Your ideas about what you want from a college may change once you experience it for yourself, so even if you can't visit your top choices, make an effort to visit some colleges.

During my visits I walked through the dormitories and knocked on doors, talking to anyone that would answer. I asked them for their advice: what they liked, didn?t like, and what they wished they had known before starting the program. They were always candid and believable. Visit your top choices, trust your gut reactions, and know that any school can be great if you make it that way! Once you?re there, the best way to make the most of your program is to make friends with your hall-mates. Get out, have fun (responsibly). Try new things. Call home at least once a week, but not much more than that. Ask advice from everyone you can, but always do what makes you happiest. And don?t forget to smile!