Sewanee-The University of the South Top Questions

Have the kids visit each school. You can only learn so much, and only the presentable things, from interviews and tours and information sessions. The best way to get a feel for the college you want to attend is to stay with one of the students, with similar academic and extra-curricular interests, so that you can tell what you can look forward to at each school.

The key to finding the perfect fit for college is simply to try it on. Like any article of clothing, a college may seem like the right size or look while still on the hanger, but you will never know for sure until you try it on. Thus, before making any big decisions about where to attend school, both parents and students should make a conscious effort to visit a school. Students should try to stay for a weekend and immerse themselves into campus life. Visit a class or spend some time with current students. Try it on for size and see if it actually fits. If it does not, then they should make the necessary adjustments in their search by finding a smaller or larger school, picking one that comes in different colors or majors, etc. Once they have chosen that perfect fit, they should put it to good use. Gloves may fit like a second skin, but if you never wear them then your hands will stay cold. If a student does not get involved in campus life and their school then it doesn't matter how perfect the school is for them. Get involved. Use it.

Find the place that best suites your tastes and don't be afraid to apply because of money; money is always available in the for of a scholarship or Financial Aid.

Start early. Make sure you look at a broad range of schools. If you can, visit each school and meet with current students. Spend the weekend at the school to get a feel of it. Also, apply early and revise, rewrite and reread your admissions essays until they are the best you can write them.

The stats and statistics never paint the full picture, they never come close. Look at the community the school is in, find out how the school develops students' lives beyond the classroom, and don't let one aspect of a school dissuade you.

A student should have been thinking about their life as an adult before they reach their junior year in high school. Those who do will have made critical course selections and involved themselves in their communities. However, very few sixteen year olds see beyond the next week. So parents, talk to your daughters and sons about more than what clothes they are wearing, or how loud their music is, or why they haven't cleaned their room in the last month. Help them get to know themselves on a deeper level than peer pressure dictates; then they will have a better sense for the right college. Talking should not equate to lecturing, it should be dialogue coming from all points of view. Allow them to have differences of opinion to yours, be open minded to their ideas, and help guide them to build critical thinking skills. The freshman year away from home is quite a shock if it is their first encounter with time or money management; important decisions. With all that good advice being taken, the family has its best chance at selecting a school to match a specific career goal, or support system, or social environment. Good Luck!

College is about what you make of it. No one college is a perfect fit for anyone. I was always afraid of choosing the wrong school and ending up miserable for four years, but after choosing a school that seemed at odds with everything I wanted in a college, I decided to make the most of the opportunities it provided. As a result I experienced four years I will remember and appreciate the rest of my life. I got involved in various groups around campus and made incredible friends. Also to future college students - As a freshman it may seem as if you have all the time in the world to decide on a major and future career. Believe me when I say that four years will be over before you know it, so please make the most of those years, both adademically and socially. Study, study, study! And remember, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."

Whether one finds them through handbooks, word-of-mouth, or pamphlets in the mail, after creating one's short list of prospective universities, choosing the right one can be agony. Like real estate, the most important and final criteria for choosing the right university is location, location, location. Prospective students need to consider long and hard if they can actually picture themselves living at a certain campus for four years. Students with concrete interests in pre-professional fields such as pre-law, pre-med, or engineering need schools with strong programs in those fields; otherwise, students less certain about their futures should consider liberal arts colleges, which often provide more options and more sympathetic faculty advice concerning potential career plans. The final most important standards to apply to all potential colleges is availability of financial aid and professor to student ratios. Other than that basic checklist, visitation is key--if the campus looks right, if the weather's right, if it feels right, then it's probably a good match. Once a student settles in, focus on academics rather than too many extracurriculars can lay the foundation for the strong freshmen GPA which can make or break grad school applications.

Just follow your heart, use the gut feel, and once you make a decision, don't look back !!

Students are often told that college will be the best four years of their life, as if they'll set foot on campus and immediately their life will become wonderful. This simply isn't true: for college to be the best four years of your life, you must be willing to make it the best four years of your life. Where you go to school actually matters less in the long run than the effort you put into the experience of being there. A student at a small school might become depressed that he is not making enough friends, griping that "there's no one like me there." What this really means is "I'm afraid people won't like me." Don't make the mistake of fear and then confuse it for disdain. There are people at every school that will like you, no matter how different you may be from them, but if you expect people to open their horizons and be friends with you, you must be willing to do the same. Do not be afraid to try new things, learn new things, and do new things, and every door at college will be open to you.