Western Michigan University Top Questions

I would suggest that both parent and the student are active in their search for the right college. Make sure you do the research to find out what college is best for the students field of interest and also make sure its the best college for you financial sittuation. If the student is unsure of what they want to do, to attend a community college to help figure it out. And I would also suggest to use your colleges resources as much as possible to help further your knowledge of your field and to help you find jobs as you graduate.

Some advice I would give parents and students is really research what school is right for you. If you know what you want to do prior to going to college make sure you pick the right college to forfill the degree needed for that career. If you dont know what you want to do before going to college that is ok too, i would recommend going to a community college and while your there research colleges and careers and pick something that is right for you.

I would advise parents to not push their child into where they want them to go, but to encourage them to find where they would fit best. Parents could help in this by offering unbiased statements to their child about things they think are important in finding a college, but more then that is to much. For the student I would suggest that they write a list about all the important things they think are important and then proceed to make a pro con list between schools in mind. I would highly recommend visting all schools in consideration. The environment that you put yourself in to learn your future skills is the most important to succeed in your studies. Also once there I would advise to always remember why you are attending school, for your studies. But also that making friendships at this time in your life are important, so don't put that on the back burner.

The best advice i can give to parents and students looking for the right college is to listen to your heart. If you are not completly in love with a school then you need to keep searching. I have had alot of friends who just go to a school because that is where there parents wanted them to go or because they are ranked the best in the field that they wanted to go into, but they were not happy where they were at and they performed not to the best of their ability. So the thing to remember when looking for a school is to find a place that you feel comfortable at and where u can feel safe, accepted, and happy. :) GOOD LUCK!

Save your money and study hard!

Make sure the college emphasizes what you want to study. Your childs housing experience can be a huge impact to his/her academics so be sure you make the right choice with roomates (whether its to have one, none or many)

When looking for a school the most important thing is visiting the school, and reasearching what the school has to offer. Once you find out if the schools you are looking at, have your major, then you can start looking at campuses. When you are looking at campuses look at the residence halls, things to do off campus, and how big the campus is itself. If walking 30 minutes to class doesn't interest you in the fall, you're not going to want to do it in the winter, so find out how big your campus is. Where different things are, the library, the cafeteria, the advising center, things you'll need in your first few weeks. Find out what types of activities you can get involved in within your school, campus activities board, DSK [a free taxi service for our campus], etc. Also the general feel of your campus when you visit, if theres just something you don't like about it, its not right for you. Consider how far it is from your hometown, and what kinds of transportation they offer. Western has free bussing ! :)

GO TO THE UNIVERSITY, I am not talking about just the standard group tour. It the student knows what they want to do, or has an idea, contact one of the advisors hopefully they will be more than willing to give a personal tour of the building, labs, and services. If not than at least a meeting, being close to my advisor, they love to see a new student that it into what they are going to be doing and can help them along the way through their college career. If the family is between a couple of schools, hopefully the personalities of the people they meet and what the campus provides seen on the tours will help make the decision; meeting people helped me a lot. Of course there are other factors; like if their high school friends are going, sports teams, and prestige of the school. In my experience I would say remember that friends can be made everywhere, true friends will stay in contact, people grow so much during college, and most importantly you are there for an education. This choice will change your life so follow your heart when making the decision!

I would just say you should not base such a heavy decision on reputation or pride. You should base it off of where you , as an individual is most likely to succeed. Now academic success is a clear reflection of how you perform in the classroom, but performing well in the classroom has to do with what your University offers. I knew Western Michigan had a great business program and I knew it would unlock doors for me to succeed both academically and socially. I saw that it gave me a chance not only do well academically, but I could become invovled in University easier than I could at other schools. Overall, this is a lesson for life. You have to go where you think you can make the largest impact on people and be the most successful in the classroom. It is all about finding that perfect balance.

Go on lots of tours to different Universitys until you find the right one