San Jose State University Top Questions

Choose wisely, make sure that the college will be the right place for you.

When finding the right college, the student should try to accomodate himself, not others, even those who have the student's best interest at heart. It's just less likely to work out if the student does not choose what he really wants. Of course, that's not to say that the student should choose a school at which he would have the most fun, no no! The most ideal school would be one at which a good balance of social and academic life abounds. The most ideal school would be one at which the student would find himself actually wanting to go to class, because that class is one he enjoys (and not only because he enjoys the company of his peers). The most ideal school would be one at which stimulates the mind and the body, as well as the soul. An ideal school is one at which the student not only learns what he needs to survive in the professional environment, but also what he needs to survive in the world today, as a person in this society. It is at a school such as this that the student will find himself feeling whole.

Choosing the right college or university is a difficult thing for most seniors or first time college students. Prospective students to any college or univeristy should really do the research on where they really want to go. Students and parents need to really look at the surronding area of the campus because on any student's spare time, they are going to want to be free. College to some students is defined as a place of higher learning and freedom from everything holding them back. My parents game me the option of letting me choose my own school because they said that choosing the right school is the first step into the real world. They were right because I learned how to live on my own without any support from them whatsoever. Attending school away from home is what most college students want to do from what I've learned. College allows students to live their lives the way they want to live. It allows them to be their own individuals. College allows you to be you without worrying what anyone thinks about you because it doesn't matter. College is a step in the right direction for anyone.

There is so much pressure on students to do well and finish in four years. I was able to finish in the four years expected, however it came at the price of insane levels of stress, anxiety, and a lower GPA. The art of triage is not limited to the battlefield, sometimes you must sacrafice one grade for another when taking on a large workload. In the end of it all, i hurt my chances of getting into a graduate school by finishing on schedule. College should be experienced, not just a blur of caffeine, stress, and deadlines. Taking a smaller workload may prolong your life in college, but atleast you will have the actual knowledge that comes with learning, not just memorization and purging, and the grades that reflect this.

I think that visiting the campus and looking at the surrounding area is very important to finding the right campus. Don't base it on anything really specific like the Bussiness College or Art deparment, to select a college based on a vague idea of what you want to do AT THIS TIME is not what college is about. Personally, college is for personal growth. Get your degree. Get your education, and if you want to go back to get a specific degree go for your Masters. School has been your life until now. College is a blend between developing yourself and your education. It's all about what you want to learn, what you think you want to do. I've changed my major four times and I realized last semester that English was not the one for me. I'm almost done with it, and I will go back to school for the degree that I truely want: Interior Design. Remember, this is for you. About you!

The best piece of advice that I would give to a potential college student is to discover your goals and find the school that best suits those dreams that you wish to achieve. Finding the right school might sound like a daunting task, but you just have to pare it down into a lot of smaller decisions. Do you want to go to a public or a private school? Do you want to live in a big city or a smaller town? Try to determine the answers to these sorts of questions, and it will make choosing a school that much easier. Another way to find the right college is research. The right college doesn't find you; you have to find it. Look up your potential school and read what others have to say about it. Making the most of your college experience is easy: work hard! Learn as much as you can about your chosen field, and learn to enjoy learning, because it's a lifelong process.

Create a clear list of career goals, and plan your college education based on what you plan to do afterward. However, remember to keep options open if you discover that you need to change plans. Stay focused on your present plans. Do not let anyone discourage you from carefully thought out goals, but listen to advice on how to reach those goals. This is for your future, but you are still living in the rpesent, so have fun and always keep some spiritual connection with reality as you navigate your path. A college career has the potential to change you, but you can only change if you push yourself and test yourself. It is fun. It is exiting, so get to it!

Just look for the right campus that makes you feel most comfortable, and always study your hardest

Make friends and keep them. Work hard from the very beginning, and don't slack off.

Find the right size, setting, and fields. Most importantly go to the school for a visit and do both an official tour and then ask normal students what they think of the school. This way you can gauge how what the campus is really like based off of how the students and the officail tour sounded.