Cornell University Top Questions

Enjoy it.

The advice I would give to both parents and students about finding the right college is to take into consideration every aspect of your lifestyle and make sure that it is compatible with the school you are choosing. Picking a school based soley on what occupation you want later in life is not always the best way to decide. You may find that basing a decision soley on that will put you into a situtation where you hate the school you attend and may be deterred from completing your studies there. If you consider your lifestyle needs, from financial to religious beliefs to study habits to the types of people you like to associate with, and pick a school that closely matches or satisfies those needs, then your college experience will be enjoyable and successful.

I would say to look for a school that has a good program in your major. If you don't know your major, to look for a school that has many majors and many extra curricular activities to choose from. If a school is large, you should definitely do activities outside of school to find a small grup of people to connect to. Do things just for fun and do things to help the community your college is in. Also, don't get stressed out over grades - it's not worth wasting your college years being stressed during the week and relieving that by getting drunk on the weekends. Don't try to do too much, but focus on a small number of things.

With our society so focused on perfection in all domains of life, it comes as no surprise that the institution of higher education that an individual chooses is of paramount importance. With this in mind, I must say that in order to truly benefit from a collegiate setting, an individual must choose a school that matches his or her interests. Parents should not force their children to apply too the top, Ivy League schools. In fact, in some cases, Ivy League institutions are quite lacking in some departments, i.e. education, whereas smaller liberal arts schools have great programs. Also, note that schools that are highly research oriented tend to push their students to research as well. This is something to consider. In sum, don't get caught up in rankings! College is what you, the student, makes it. As for making the most of college, it is easy to focus solely on grades and forget about the things in life we take for granted. In order to stay sane, take a walk around campus and enjoy the surroundings, join clubs and make friends. After all, you are there to work hard, but you are still entitled to happiness.

Choose a school you like, not one based on name recognition. Also, students shouldn't be too quick to run away from home; having that support network can be very important during the trying times of your collegiate career.

I think the most important thing in deciding which collegeg to go to depends on if the student feels comfortable there. I would reccomend visiting the colleges severall times before deciding. Students should also spend a night or weekend at the school without their parents to get a feel for the actual social scene at the school, since taking tours during the day can be a much different experience than what the school actually is. Of course, academic programs are important, and students should choose a school that will challenge them, expose them to a variety of fields, and adequately prepare them for a career in their chosen field. To make the most of the college experience once there, students need to learn how to budget their time. If that means making an hour by hour schedule of what will be done on a certain day, so be it. Without this, students can find themselves spending all day in the library with no free time, or spending all day partying and not finishing their work. Also, get out there, join clubs or student groups to expose yourself to the world and meet new people.

During your college search try to keep in mind that you will be living in this place for the next four years of your life. Do an overnigbht visit see what the kids are like and if you fit in. The truth is that eventually you will find a college that is right for you and you will end up in the right place. There are so many schools across the country that the college search process should not be a stressful experience but a fun one. If you do not like where you end up at school transferring is always an option. The most important part of making the most out of your college experience is having as much fun as early as possible. At most schools the first month is not difficult at all so go out and have fun because when the tests hit you will be swamped. Remember you are at college to learn but an enormous part of the college experience is going out and being a part of the social scene on campus.

After going on your forth or fifth college tour, you start getting the funny feeling that you've heard this all before. The info sessions all seem to be telling you the exact same thing - the school is diverse, gives you so many wonderful opportunities, has a great atmosphere, provides so many different classes, etc. Obviously, both tours and info sessions are trying to promote that school and will usually only tell you the best things about it. First, you definitely need to visit the campus - online pictures don't give you a "feel" for the campus. Once at the campus, spend some time walking around not with a tour group. Talk to students - they usually love to talk about their school. If they don't, then maybe it's not such a great place. Also, check out the school's Facebook group - see what students really think of it. In the end though, your attitude is what matters most. If you don't get into your first choice and go to a second choice thinking that you won't like it, you won't. Go in with the attitude that you will like it, and you will.

Disregard what movies and television series might have influenced you to think college will be like. Go there expecting anything to happen. You might find that not having expectations as to what college should be like will make your days there more fun. Also remember that you, the student, are there to pave a road to realize your dreams someday and perhaps your time in college is such that you can realize what you want that dream to be. Therefore good luck and don't disregard any possibilities, keep an open mind.

Visit the college before you make a decision, and choose a college you feel comfortable at when visiting.