University of Wisconsin-Stout Top Questions

Getting involved in many school programs and activities is a must to get the most out of your college experience. Also try not to focus on partying and drinking outside the classroom as best you can.

Take your time, enjoy it, have fun. You won't get another opportunity like it again. Realizing that this is such an incredible opportunity (and its all yours!) is the first step to, well, everything! The people you meet, the adventures you create, and the memories you make are those that you will never forget and never be able to re-live. Choose a college for YOU. It will all too soon become your home and your refuge! Get involved, try new things, and be exactly who you want to be. You are in the drivers seat to your life, and it'll be an amazing ride... :)

Make sure you like the atmosphere and size of the school your looking at otherwise i feel that your college experiance will be what you make of it. Take any oppurtunity to meet new people and make new friends. Keep up with your classes but make time to have friends and a life other than homework. These are some of the most important years of your like so far, so make the most of them.

Stout has won the Baldrige Award. It is a university full of knowledge.

In order to find the right college for you or your child it is best to tour the campus for the ones you are interested in and see how they feel to the prospective student and see that it fits their needs and wants. After you have selected a college to attend I highly recommend getting involved in extra curricular activities such as the Inter-Residence Hall Association or a club that is related to your program. Being involved on campus helps provide yourself with valuable tools to help yourself and others through college and after college. By being involved you learn how to appropriately manage your time which is a vital skill to have for the rest of your life. You also learn to be more people oriented and work well with others which working with others is something that comes up often in the workplace. Another helpfull asset to being involved is making connections. You never know if somone you know can help you land your dream job by them knowing the right people. Make sure to stay focused on your studies and don't take on too much which can be easy to do for some.

Take your time, find the one that fits you. There are many posibilits, but there is one that will fit just like a glove. College should be one of the best times of your life, finding the right one makes all the difference. Be open to new ideas and things. College is not high school, nore should it be. Its a time for personal growing, learning who you are. Step out of your box, you will never have an oportunidy like this again. Above all, enjoy it. It goes by faster then you think!

My advice to prospective students and parents when looking at potential colleges would be to ask the following five questions. 1) Is it close enough to home that the student can come home for holidays and emergencies, yet far enough away that they will not be coming home every weekend? 2) Does the university offer an academic curriculum that enriches the students' learning both during school and after? 3) Is there a variety of extra-curricular activites offered that interest the student? 4) Are the academic buildings in close proximity to where the student will be living? 5) Did the counselors, students, and faculty we met with on tours give us a positive impression? If the answer to all of the above is YES, then that university is definitely a place to consider. Above all, to make the most of your college experience, you have to make it your home. Be involved - this is the best way to meet the people who will become your lifelong friends. Take pride in your campus community - attend athletic events, sit in on a lecture, explore the community. Get to know your professors, too - do all this and you will fit right in!

My best advice to parents and selecting a college for their child would be to make sure your child is going there for the right reasons. Joining a boyfriend or girlfriend, for a sport, or because a sibling goes there are not nesasarly good reasons to attend a certain school. Also know that changing majors is not a big deal at all, so many people do it at least once. As for making the most of your college experience, two words: GET INVOLVED! What ever it is, a club, sport, or sorority/fraternity, joining something extra gets you involved on capus and provides many leadership and resume building opportunities that will benifit you for the rest of your life. Also joining a student organization is great for meeting people and keeping yourself busy with that something extra. Have the time of your life! Four years goes so fast!

To anyone who is looking into going to college I would just like to say just remember that although college is a time to have fun and meet new people, it is also a time to work hard and start to realize that this is real life now. Be sure to look at a few different schools rather than just one so you see a variety of places and what they have to offer. Also be sure to look earlier rather than later because you want to have time to prepair for the school that you choose to go to and to be sure that you have everything that you need both physically and mentally. But more than anything else, relax, it may seem stressful at first but everyone adapts to their school and you will meet many new people and have many new friends to help you along the way!!

It doesn't really matter how many schools you apply for. The best thing would be to visit all of the campuses that you are interested and find out what they are specifically known for. Make sure that it is a place that your student will actually like attending and feels that it is the right place for them.

Find out what you want after you graduate, think about what kind of study will help with that, find a school offering that type of program and find one that you like. I think the most important tihng to consider when looking at a school is finding a town and campus that you like that will offer and deliver the education that you are interested in.

The first priority is to figure out which schools have the program that the student wants to go into. Then you find all the colleges that apply to that program and choose from there. Certain schools are stronger in some areas and weak in others so reasearch will help. If the student is undecided I recomend attending a local college at first to save money while they figure out what they want. Then they can go off to a bigger school. I also recomend not choosing a school that the students friends are going to. Or don't let that be the only reason they choose that school. You make so many new friends that you might not end up hanging out with the high school friends at all. When you first arrive there are so many activities to attend where you can get to know your classmates and floormates for the year. Getting out there and not being shy, while still being yourself, is the biggest recommendation I have for incoming students. Just have fun and don't stress out! College is about starting over almost and living your life the way YOU want to live it.

Some good advice is to go on campus visits while students are still on campus to get a good sence of how the students are at the school. I think the people at a school make the school, meaning if you have good people around you at a school than your time at school will be a lot more enjoyable then if everyone pretty much sticks to themselves. If there is a choice when you get to school live in the dorms because there are alot of oppertunities to meet new people. While at school you should also get involved in clubs and sports because there are alot of people with the same views and hobbies as you and they make great freinds.

It's important to visit the school so that you can get a feel for the campus. When I visited UW Stout, I immediately felt at home. I knew it was the place for me. You need to make sure that the size of the campus and the size of the classes meet your needs. No matter where you go, there is going to be an initial shock of being independent and being away from home, so it's best to pick a place that you are comfortable with. Make sure the school has your major of choice as well as a few other majors that you are interested in because no matter how dead set you think you are on your major, you may decide that you don't like it, and it is a lot easier to switch majors at a school that it is to switch schools and start all over again with making friends and becoming familiar with the area.

Overall just find out what you want to get out of college. Do you want a big or small community? What is your major? Where should you go to learn as much as you can about your major. Find the strong points of a college. Don't work around the college, make the college work around you. And most importanly have fun doing it, college is one of the most unforgetable years of your life.

Check out lots of schools, even if you are only slightly interested, check it out, you may be surprized by what you like. Once you are at a school which has the right fit for you, get involved! Are there any organizations that fit with your major, groups you are interested in, even study groups or people that you live with? Friends are what save you from yourself and your school work, so you dont get so caught up that you miss "the best 4 years of your life." You may be surprized by who you meet and how close of friends you become. Now don't get me wrong, school work comes first, but you need to have a little bit of fun in your life too!

Visit alot of colleges so you know what one it right for you. Get involved on campus its a great way to meet new people while having fun! Just make the best of your time at school study hard but dont forget to have alot of fun too these will be the best years of your life.

Students: Find a school that fits you. Look for a school that has an awesome program in your major area of study. Don't worry about where your friends are going. College is going to be your home for the next four years so you need to be happy and feel comfortable on campus. Make sure you tour lots of colleges and apply to lots to leave your options open. Talk to lots of people on campus when you tour and ask lots of questions. See if the people there really care about you or if you are just a number to them. Look for schools that are welcoming and friendly. Parents: Ask lots of questions and try and find out as much information about the school as possible. Don't try and force your child into going to a school that they don't want to go to. You can try and help them figure out and eliminate choices but ultimately remember that it should be their decision because they are going to be living there and be part of that community for the next four years.

I think that the biggest thing for those looking at colleges is to thoroughly research the schools. It is not about what the dorm room looks like, it is about the classroom focus and the placement rates. You can make your own fun based on your interests, but you can't change the goal of the classes and the school's focus. Do your research!

In order to make the most of the college experience you cannot let the little things get to you. You have to learn to see the bigger picture. Pick a school that you know you can focus at, not one to party at because you are here for an education, not to party. You know you are at the right college when you love telling people about where you go and you actually do not want winter vacation to come because you love where you are so much. I am always ecstatic to come back after breaks. You have to give things a chance and if you are not happy you can always change to be happy and succeed.