Johns Hopkins University Top Questions

Make sure that you like the school you pick and that you feel comfortable there. DO NOT get sucked into rankings and prestige of the schoool.

There is a colleg out there for everyone. You should starting thinking about college by your junior year in high school. Make a list of all the things that you want out of the experience- academics, social, setting, etc.- and try to match that with various schools. Take visits and then make a list of all the things you liked and didn't like. I think that when you find the right school you get a tingly sensation and you know that is where you want to be. Once you get accepted and are on campus, don't limit yourself to things you already have done. Try everything! It is a great way to meet people and have a wonderful time. Go to sporting events, plays, and speeches. Join a musical, political, or special interest group. How much you enjoy college is a direct result of how much you are willing to put yourself out there.

Make sure you choose the school that you feel is right for you, not the one that your friends or parents think is right.

Find a school that appeals to you both academically and location/weather wise.

Location is key because an excellent surrounding environment creates a safe and worthwhile college experience. Visiting campuses and learning about where you plan to spend the next 4 years of your life is so important. Every city has their culture and it would be a shame to not enjoy walking the streets of your home. College is about expression and taking risks to find out exactly who you are and what you will become. Go far away from home (or don't), just make sure you wake up each morning and love the city your in at this critical stage in life.

Life is what you make of it, and college is no different. Make sure that whatever school you accept has all the resources you need to be happy, and if you're not happy well ... you can always transfer. Life is too short to be miserable and college is too expensive to waste. So know yourself well, get to know your school well, and remember that there's nothing productive in stressing out. Everyone has a different experience as well. I know plenty of people who are unhappy at my school, but they don't make an effort to be otherwise. Don't be one of those. I'm convinced that more than half of life is discovering who you are and what you're about, and you're never going to figure that out if you're hiding out in the library letting some test or assignment control your life. That being said, with the right attitude, you can benefit equally from any school you attend, regardless of rankings or class size or location.

I would suggest you talk to current students more and ask questions about the general level of happiness on campus. Try talking to students at the coffee place on your trip to see the campus and ask them if they are happy and if they wish they had made a different choice. If the majority say they are unhappy then keep looking.

The most important considerations in choosing a school are not only its ability to prepare you for your desired path in life (naturally), but also its capacity to help you finish maturing into the adult you are meant to be. The easy part is finding one that provides you with the caliber and type of education you want, simply because that is the primary and most advertised role of any school. However, after four years of a school that places total emphasis on the pursuit of a higher GPA, and reams of details to memory, I find that the second role of college is greatly overlooked, even though it is every bit as important. No matter how open-minded and flexible your community at home may be, it is not until the unbounded freedom of college that who you really are tends to develop. You need to find the time at school, while not sacrificing academics, to connect with people, to explore the interests that will appear, and to generally live life. Leave the serious worries for after graduation, and learn to appreciate your true character today.

Go for the best college you're interested in. If you're going to go there, put the work in, and pay to do it you might as well shoot for that top-teir education that will help you get the job you really want once you're done. If you're torn between two choices, whether it's what school to go to or what major to choose, don't worry, it's not the end of the world. Make your choice and know that if it ends up that you would really rather go with the other option, or maybe go with an option you didn't think of before, you can. You can change schools, majors, career paths. Make sure that whatever you're doing, wharever you're going, you're happy doing it. If you're miserable while you're getting to where you're going, you'll probably be miserable once you get there. Try to think about what you really enjoy doing, and pick a school that will help you learn how to do that better. Try new things, figure out what you really like, and always try your hardest.

Choosing the right college is a difficult process. Perhaps the most important consideration is practical matters such as affordability, availability of desired majors, location, etc. After taking these factors into account, school visits, etc. can help decide which school is right for a student. I found speaking to current students to be a good way of learning more about a college.