Elizabeth
When choosing the best college for you, be sure to visit all prospects. Take snapshots of the facade of the stateliest building and of the bathroom floor in your potential dorm. Paste the respective pictures onto a list of your pros and cons for the school. Once you have created your list, ask someone who attends the college in question to make a list of his or her pros and cons. This person will include items you cannot know yet, such as if the school has a terrible roach problem. Add the student's list into yours wherever you choose. Follow the aforementioned steps for each prospective college. Next, forget about the lists for two weeks.
Has it been two weeks yet? OK, look at the lists again and re-slate anything as you see fit. Now comes the hard part: ranking your lists. From there, pull your top two lists and play eeny meeny miny mo. Unless, of course, you think it would be a better decision to analyze these top two lists according to your rationale and opinions.
Remember that you will get out of college what you put into it. Good luck with your decision!
Cole
I feel as though a prospective student should think the decision through quite well. You have to find an institution which you will benefit academically and one which will put you in a good position to be successful in the future. Look into what you are planning on studying and see what the school offers - you are there to learn what you believe will excite you and assist you in the professional world. More importantly - you are going to be an Undergraduate for four years which means being comfortable in your surroundings will greatly benefit you.
Zachary
Number one rule: Visit the campus beforehand
Number two rule: Don't be afraid to ask students on campus their opinions
Number three rule: Try your hardest to make good grades early in your academic career, these grades weigh heavily in your GPA
Whitney
Make sure that your college choice is best for you, the student, not your parents or anyone else. You are doing this to make a better life for yourself, so make sure you are doing this for you and not for other reasons.
Jenny
When choosing a college, first look for what you are really interested in and then the quality of the program offered at the college. Do not look at sport issues. A college with a good sports team but bad program does not benifiit you in the long run when you go look for a job.
Andrew
The greatest advice I can give to parents and students about finding the right college is go outside of your comfort zone. The college experience is all about finding yourself. Throughout college, students face many hardships whether they be social, financial, or academic, they are definately out there. I believe in order to make the most out of your college experience is the cliche statement about balancing studying and partying is key. It has taken me three years to realize who I am and what I want to do but now that I have found myself, its much more relieving. Throughout my college experience, I personally have faced many hardships, but I have found most of them were brought on by myself. Time management is a must. In a nut shell, have fun, study, make lots of friends, find yourself, and move out of your comfort zone in order to find the right college and make the most of the one you choose.
Blake
I would consider all colleges based on what field my child was wanting to enter then research what type's of programs and networking that particular school offers. I would also strongly encourage the magnitude of studying and keeping your grades up to par in order to graduate with a respectable degree. Getting invloved with your peers and professors is also a big deal as this may be an employer or potential refrence for your career.
Kellen
Make sure there are job opportunitues for the major you choose!
Krysta
College is a great experience that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in. Don't be afraid to get out there and visit college campuses, the more choices you have the better your chances of finding the right campus for you. Try to stay ahead of the game, visit with advisors and tour the campus before your first semester begins. Don't be intimidated, tons of other students have no idea where there classes are either, so don't be afraid to ask. Enjoy the experience, while it is important to make sure that you get your studies done one should also make time to get out and socialize and make new friends. Remember that you have family that love you at home and that if you ever need anything you can call them 24/7. Finally uphold your morals, don't be afraid to show your true colors and the wonderful person that you really are. I hope that you enjoy college as much as I do and that your experience is fruitful and intriging.
Batrina
When it comes to finding the right college I would tell students that they should research at least the top 5 schools that have the best program available for them in regards to their major. Next I would tell the student and their parents to research the cost of attendance at the school that bests fits them and make sure that this school is in your price range. When it comes to making the most of the college experience the student should stay as focused as possible because there are alot of obstacles that come to get you off track when you go to college. Also I would tell the student to get as involved as possible so that they can get the most that college can offer them which includes a nice social life!
Kristen
I would say to just listen to your heart when you are visiting colleges. Generally, if you instantly feel at home on a campus, then it is probably right for you. That's the way I felt at the University of Alabama, and I wouldn't have loved any other school as much as I did Bama.
Brian
Finding the right college can be more about following your gut then all of the research in the world. Definitely do your research and see what is best based on what you would like to do with your life. However, if you visit a school and do not feel like you will fit in, you might not. The right school will not only have the qualities you are looking for with your education, but will have the correct atmosphere to enable you to succeed. To make the most of your college experience, don't be afraid to get involved in on-campus organizations. Find common links with people and embrace them. The people you connect with in college will be your friends for the rest of your life. Another recommendation is to go to one of your school's sporting events with a fan. Even if you personally have never been to a game, the atmosphere may draw you in. Enjoy all of the new experiences college offers.
Ashlyn
Making the right college choice is a difficult process for High School students, but once you are on the right path your selection can be easy. My advice would be to start the process by taking the SAT and ACT test. After getting your results go to your High School counselor and discuss what area of education you would like to study in college. The high school counselors are great at helping students look for colleges or universities that may fit their style of learning. After that, make a list of schools you would like to visit and go to visit them. This is an excellent opportunity to see the campus. You can get a feel for the environment in which you will be learning in and a chance to meet some faculity memebers. If you can do a campus tour, you can get a lot of information about about the school. That is what convienced me to attend The University of Alabama. I found it to be a very friendly atmosphere. The knowledge for higher education was present and the faculty members that I met were very enthusiastic and happy to answer any questions we had about college selections.
Daniella
I would suggest that you look at all your options carefully and seriously weigh all the pros and cons. Education is very important and you want to find the best school for you. Also visiting and getting to know the campuses is very helpful.
Ninna
The advice I would give parents and/or students about finding the right college and making the most out of the college experience would be to visit as many different colleges as possible. Talk with the students and professors at the colleges the student and family visit and throughout the visit notice the way the students interact with one another. How comfortable a student feels on a campus can be a big determining factor, as well as if the college offers the program that a student is wanting to enter. When it comes to making the most out of the college experience, remember to have fun and study. Making sure that the work is done before the fun helps relieve a lot of stress and makes college a lot more enjoyable. Meet new people and have study dates or just hang out. Some of the friends that are made in college will become life long friends.
Paige
Any student who has decided to attend college should evaluate his/her options thoroughly and in depth before making any kind of decision. Any stuent looking at colleges should know that the process of deciding on a college can and will be overwelming at times. However, making a list of both qualities one wants and does not want in a university, I believe, is the first step---deciding whethere one wants a big or small campus, rural or urban environment, public or private, and deciding in what geographical area the student would like to study in. After that comes investigating individual, specific, universities--it's especially important to have "visit days" at universities, beacuse it gives one the chance to sit in on classes, talk to students, and really get a "glimpse" at what life at a particular college would be like. During the application process, it is also very important to not only apply to the schools one is more interested in, but to also apply to a few "backup school" in case one does not get accepted to the schools of his/her choice. Overall, stay calm, focused, open, and never afraid to ask questions!
Tanjula
The advice I would give to students is that you shouldn't choose a college based on financial issues; just because a school offers you a scholarship, doesn't mean that it is the right school for you. You should choose a school that has a surrounding in which you will feel comfortable learning in, because if you are not comfortable then you might have to deal with things like depression and anxiety problems.
T'Chilandria
Make sure that you let the incoming college student make that decision as to what college they want to attend. not somewhere their parents or any other family memebers want them to go. Also when you have made ur decision it is vital that you prepare yourself ahead of time, to make it easier on yourself when you first go off to school.
Amber
To study, go to class, adnd don't be shy
Cody
If someone doesn't really know where they want to go to school, the best thing to do would be visit several campuses, meet some of the faculty and current students, ask questions, and just talk to people. After they've had some time to marinate on everything they've seen, read, and heard about the school, they can forget all of it. You can't base a life changing decision on someone else's experience or what you hear from other people. You have to go where you feel most comfortable and where your heart tells you to go. I visited other college campuses before visiting the University of Alabama and I liked a couple of them, but when I came here I felt at home and that's the best feeling you can have, because where ever you choose to go to school that will be your home for the next four years. When someone does decide on a school, they need to get involved in some kind of organization, whether it be an intramural team, a fraternity/sorority, or club.