SUNY College at Potsdam Top Questions

Choosing a college is important, but it is up to the student upon arriving at the college to craft his or her own experience. In choosing a college, it is important to look into social life, academics, and types of extracurricular activies offered on campus. Recommendations and referals from other students and parents that a particular college offers a constructive experience are quite useful in choosing the right college. It is important for one's college to have a strong focus on one's area of interest and study, but it is also crucial for the college to provide a variety of other fields for the student to explore. Some colleges may have a strong academic program while they lack the resources to pair students with internships and career paths that are suitable and challenging to them. Also quite important is that there are a variety recreational things to do both on and off campus. After all, college is about exploring yourself and broadening your horizons to discover new opportunities for the future. A good college should encourage the student to jump in, enrich their life, and have fun!

Make sure the people are going to be the type of people you want to spend the next multiple years with.

Find a college that has a lot f options. Weather it be academically or extra-curricular activities. Have fun while you are at college, yes it is mainly about academics, however you should enjoy you time at college and make lots of friends, some of them being life long.

Parents should start saving up money, however little, early because the costs can be very high and not everyone gets grants/scholarships. Loans should be a sort of last resort aid. They are very stressful and hard to pay off. Students also should not think of a place to party but as a place to get an education. I hear party goers all the time talking about how smashed they got, and they had no time to do homework and/or study for a test. College can be a lot of hardwork and frustration with a heavy workload...partying will only put people farther behind. Other than that just to try and enjoy the stay, and not to have preconcieved idead of a roomate. Just communicate with them early to figure out who brings what to the room (or if they are willing to share). In my case I brought a fride and microwave, and my roomate brought the tv and lighting.

If you are not sure about what you want to do at a university go to a community college first even if it is just for a year it will help you decided if the field you are thinking about going into is the right choice. If you can take the chance and study abroad it will change your outlook on life and give you some insites into other cultures and peoples of the world.

In finding the right college, I believe that the potential college student should do research for institutions that are strong candidates for their career asperations. College is defined as "higher education" and should be treated as a means to put them in postion to maximize your ability to start a career in their field. Keep in mind that searching for higher places of learning should include colleges from the entire country. For most college students, this is their first time to experience something completely new. It is facinating how different the culture of living is on each side of the continent, and broadening horizons only opens doors the "real world." To make the most out of the college experience, you really have to enjoy it. The typical thought after a statement like that would be that enjoying college means drinking. However, this is really not true. There are countless things to do while in college and most people prefer these options. At my school, hiking was very popular with being in close vacinity to the Adirondack Mountains and their high peaks. Take advantage of your surroundings and relationships to be made. Those will be the things you remember of college.

Consider how the tuition compares to the quality of the facilities, the caliber of faculty, and the extent and prestige of your degree program/curriculum. Also consider what sort of environment is most condusive to successful learning and ease of socialization for the prospective student. If the student is undecided in his/her degree pursuit, pick a school that offers a wide range of courses and curricula. Depending on the degree program, keep in mind the opportunities to network and make connections, and find a school that tries to foster establishing those connections.

Follow your dreams. Don't let your major, your finances, or your fears hold you back. Don't pick a school because that's where your high school friends are going. Don't let your parents or anyone else tell you that you can't do something (as in "you can't do math", not "you can't have a new car"). Reach out to others. Make friends. Don't be afraid to take more than 4 years-- the world won't leave you behind, and the cost is well worth it. Get involved. Fall in love. Fall out of love. Go to conferences, go to sports games, go to concerts. Sit on a student committee. Take a "fluff" class for fun. Tutor. Work on-campus. Work off-campus. Write thank-you notes to good professors; they'll remember you, and you might just make their day. Work hard in classes. Play harder. Don't be stupid-- don't drink yourself into oblivion or do drugs. Struggle desperately. Make every day worth it. Stay home when you're sick! Study. Be courteous to others, espcially if you're sharing a 12'x12' room with them. Learn to live!

The advice I would give them, would be to look for somewhere that you feel at home at. A college should speak to you both personally and academically. You need to find a place that will be challenging but not enough where you feel overwhelmed everyday and a place where you are able to just let it all hang out and be yourself without fear of being reprimanded for doing so. When you visit the college and you are overwhelmed by a sense of ?this is right? you know you have found where you belong. When that happens leaving home and going away to school is not as hard and you learn to love school and want to go back and learn more, and in the end you hate to leave and move on to bigger and better things.

Make sure you visit before you decide.