St Lawrence University Top Questions

When I was looking at colleges, I kept hearing from people that the right campus would just "feel right". And as odd as that sounds, it couldn't be more true. I know when I set foot on the St. Lawrence campus that I had to be there for the next four years, and with the exception of a semester abroad in London, that is where I found myself. The best way to make the most of your years at college is to get involved in groups that really interest you-- they are where you will meet your best friends! And if there is a performance, a game, a lecture, a dinner, or ANY special event on your campus, you should really make an effort to attend. I learned just as much from life outside the classroom as I did from my amazing professors. Where ever you go, enjoy your time and make amazing memories!

I would advise parents and/or students to really seek out the schools they are most interested in. Make sure to visit the school more than once, if you can, and try to get a sleepover visit if possible. Re-visit days after admission are crucial to deciding if the school is right for you, especially since they let you sit in on sample classes of your choice with real professors. To make the most of the college experience you really have to get out of your bubble and experience new things. Spend time with people you would never have spent time with back at home, and find out about new cultures and areas in the world. Also get involved with the surrounding community at your school, and if you don't join club or varsity athletics find an organization that best suits you and stay involved wtih that organization. Explore as much as possible, this is the best four years of your life!!!!

Look for the school that will prepare you not only for your future career, but for the world. I am a huge proponent of liberal arts education and well-rounded students.

Be sure to look at more than three colleges and be sure to look outside of the state you live in. Look around the country. You can relocate to anywhere, this is your one chance.

Finding the right school based on one or two visits, a campus tour and the mind-numbing repetition of reading college demographics doesn't always lead students or parents to feel feel confident in their final choice. When I visited my Alma Mater as an accepted but undecided student, the dean of students gave us advice that I found to be irritatingly sappy at the time: go find an Adirondack chair somewhere on campus, sit down, and see if you can really imagine yourself here. Well, I didnt do that, but I did take some time to just walk around campus by myself, and get a grasp of what this school felt like to me. Could I imagine walking to class or brunch in my pajamas down this path? Could I see myself lying on a blanket with my friends in that courtyard? Was that the building in which I would spend sixteen hours straight studying for an exam? In four years, would I walk across that green with a diploma in my hand? Could this new place ever feel like home? Something about that campus said yes, I would do all those things, and I never looked back.

I would say to travel and check out every campus that you can and go on a school sponsored overnight visit. I would also say not to go to a school just because you can afford it. Money should not deter anyone from going to a school they wish to go to.

Feeling. Enough said. I think that when choosing a college, the most important part in making your decision is the "feeling" you get when you walk on campus. It is incredibly important to physically go to each school you are looking at and see how you feel there. That is your best way to determine where you belong. The atmosphere of the school is something you feel right away on each campus and it is this that allows you to see if you feel as if you fit there. Of course it is incredibly important to look at academics, sports, financial aid, ect., but so many schools have so much to offer. That is when it comes finally down to where you feel most comfortable, and it is that first time on a campus that shows you how you feel. That is how I felt when I first stepped on St. Lawrence University campus, like i belonged.

Deciding which school to go to can be a hard descision. It requires looking at your future and making descisions for it without fully knowing what implications those descisions will have. All you can do at the time is make the best descision based on what you know. Decide between a Liberal arts school or a large state university. Liberal arts schools and state schools are very different, learning about their differences and using helps in decideing what type of education you are looking for as well as the general type of environment on campus that will be most suitable for you. Knowing what you want to study, and choosing schools that are strong in those departments is a good method if you know for sure what it is that you want to study. Once you have arrived on campus get involved! extracurricular activities are the best way to meet people who share common interests.

Students looking to find the right college should really try to do campus tours and overnight visits. Becoming a part of the college, even just for a night, can be a very taste of what four years may be like. If these aren't possible, prospective students should take advantage of the online chats and other outreach programs the colleges offer. When narrowing the search, pick a few criteria that are the most important to the student and critically review prospective colleges in terms of those. The search is difficult but with specific goals in mind it will be much more manageable. In terms of making the most out of the college experience: it is what you make it. Put yourself out there. Try something new, even if you hate it after that one time. Do your homework and engage yourself in your classes, you'll regret it if you don't. Remember that college is the time in your life to branch out from everything you've ever known, to discover passions and to discover a world that you didn't know existed.

Make sure to look not only at academics but also social life. Do you want to be stuck living on campus all four years? What is the culture surrounding alcohol? Does this school support LGBTQQIAA? What is the workload vs. social life ratio? What organizations are you interested in?

Make sure to schedule a visit with Admissions. This way you and your child can have an interview, tour the campus, sit in class and see what the campus is like on the weekends.

Do not pick a school based on what you think you want to do with your life. You will change your mind. Pick a school where you will enjoy yourself and where you can find out what you really are interested in studying.

A good academic program isn't the only thing that makes a school a good school. You should also look at what social oppertunities the school provides!

I think it is important for parents to understand that the ultimate choice is their child's. Although parents always want to be involved, they will not be there when their son or daughter goes to college. It's important to help them in the process, but not to overwhelm them with what you think they should be looking for in a school. Try to present them with oppertunities and make them think out of the box. If you child is an athlete, try to push them to find a school that they would be happy at if something happened and they could no longer be athletic. If you child is shy, try to push them to find a place where they will feel welcome! Don't be afraid about the drinking and drugs involved with college - your child will be just fine. Every person has to find what fits them best, and there is a college out there for everyone.

I would recommend you visit as many colleges as posible. Talk to not only administrators, but also current students. Get their feel for their academic and social life. You will get a feeling that certain colleges are a right fit. Once you narrow your list, go back for at least a second visit. This time take a harder look. Will they help you out financially? Will you like the housing? Will you like the community surrounding the college? Look hard. An education is a huge investment. Money does talk when it comes to financial aid, campus jobs. Do the alumni participate in career searches? Your education will be broken down into four basic areas: 1) Academic. Does the college have the programs you need? 2) Housing & social life. Does the college have not only proper facilities but people that share your social interests? 3) Extra-curricular activities. Not only social but altruistic. 4) Career placement & guidence? Bottom line as mentioned before, once you visit a few educational institutions, your gut will tell you which ones are right for you!

Make sure you do a lot of research on the colleges you look at. Visit the colleges and walk around and ask random students questions about their experience. Tour guides will answer you but will try to avoid giving you a bad perception of the school. Get the truth from someone who won't risk losing their job. If it doesn't feel right, don't go there even if you are being pressured by relatives, guidance counselors or friends. In the end, it isn't their life or education but yours. Take advantage of every opportunity that you come across. Take a step out of your comfort zone and try something new and/or learn about a different culture. Go abroad! It is an unbelievable experience that you will cherish forever. Take the time to plan out your course work but be sure to make time for yourself and making the most out of your college experience. It is a great place to make lifelong friends and memories. Take that course that sounds interesting but isn't relevant to what you want to do, you'd be surprised at how much it impacts your life. Enjoy every moment.

look around and apply to as many colleges possible and find the one that best fits you

Do not talk to just your tour giudes when you visit. They are paid to tell you good things about the school. Find students to talk to, maybe someone you know that is attending. Also, visit the department that you are interested in; talk to professors and students there. Take advantage of outside research as much as possible. This is a really good experience and may even get you off campus and around the country for free. The college experience is not just about the college that you attend.

The best advice about finding the right college would be to visit the schools. Attend a college that you feel comfortable with not one that might have the best reputation. You will only do your best at a school you are comfortable at and can enjoy yourself.

I am sure that the preferred response to this question is to send your kids to the best possible school so they can go the furthest they can in life. I am far from a hippy but so far what I've took from life is that you have to follow your dreams within the confines of society. Parents want the best for their kids and the kids know what they want from life. If your child has always demonstrated that they are capable of making good decisions , that they view things from all angles and know exactly what they are getting into and what the reprecussions will be...then let them go. Parents have to let their children make their own decisions, but children must demonstrate that they are capable of making mature, practical decisions as well as follow their dreams. Something my dad once told me that makes more and more sense to me every day is..."I don't care how you do something, as long as you can justify it." This is not meant to be taken to its limits, but it is a good philosophy to keep in mind. Thank you for your time.