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What are some tips for figuring out what college to go to?
Schools all have extremely diverse qualities, and I'm wondering what the best things to look for in a college are.
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Kendra’s Answer
You can't go wrong with whichever college you go to, as each will help give you opportunities in your future career. But there are key things to research when deciding which colleges to attend:
1. Is the college legitimate and accredited? There are cases of online and in person schools not being legitimate, and students most of the time don't get their money back for being scammed.
2. How can I keep costs down? I advise to stay out of much debt as you can! Narrow your top 3 4-year schools, and 1 or 2 community colleges; apply, and see which one's you can get a scholarship or full-ride. There is *no* benefit getting 100K in debt for a degree your unsure you even want to major in, or have a 40k salary.
3. Considering factors that Noone will tell you:
A. College is what you make it, whether a 4 year or 2 year- get involved in clubs, make friends, and you will have a "college experience"
B. When you graduate from a community College- majority of universities will accept your transfer! Most colleges stats for being competitive are driven by high school entrant stats, not transfer students. If you have a good GPA- you can transfer majority of the time to anywhere.
4. Does the college have the degree program you're interested in? This will eliminate many schools when researching.
Best of luck! This advice comes from personal experience and knowledge from friends.
1. Is the college legitimate and accredited? There are cases of online and in person schools not being legitimate, and students most of the time don't get their money back for being scammed.
2. How can I keep costs down? I advise to stay out of much debt as you can! Narrow your top 3 4-year schools, and 1 or 2 community colleges; apply, and see which one's you can get a scholarship or full-ride. There is *no* benefit getting 100K in debt for a degree your unsure you even want to major in, or have a 40k salary.
3. Considering factors that Noone will tell you:
A. College is what you make it, whether a 4 year or 2 year- get involved in clubs, make friends, and you will have a "college experience"
B. When you graduate from a community College- majority of universities will accept your transfer! Most colleges stats for being competitive are driven by high school entrant stats, not transfer students. If you have a good GPA- you can transfer majority of the time to anywhere.
4. Does the college have the degree program you're interested in? This will eliminate many schools when researching.
Best of luck! This advice comes from personal experience and knowledge from friends.
Updated
Victor’s Answer
One and above all is costs. Trust me; going to a nice college sounds fancy and all, but when you graduate with $200k in debt, it's a hard pill to swallow.
Always take the financially beneficial route; and future you will thank you.
Always take the financially beneficial route; and future you will thank you.
Updated
Chirayu’s Answer
There are many things a student needs to look at when trying to figure out what college to attend. Some of the main things to look at are geographic location, size of school, if the chosen field is offered at the college, where does it rank amongst other schools that offer it, is housing offered on campus, what are some financial benefits of attending, are scholarships offered. Take tours to colleges you have an interest so you get to see everything in person before making a decision. Reach out to students who attend those colleges and see if they can answer any questions you may have. Keep an open mind and explore all the opportunities, there are a ton of resources available from your high school counselor to teachers and students.
Updated
Drew’s Answer
It's hard to answer this in its entirety, because funding is an important aspect of it. Though, I wish it weren't. I have been to Valencia Community College, Community College of the Air Force, Chapman, Brandman, University of West Florida, Northwest Florida State College, University of Colorado Denver, University of Maryland University College and am currently going to Mississppi State so I am by no means an expert, but I have found that school ratings have very little to do with the overall quality of a school.
Going to an ivy league school helps companies weed out, what they feel are, "lesser" candidates, but having worked with some I disagree. You can't know the quality and work ethic of an individual based solely on where they went to school.
That being said if I could do it over, I would get my associates at an affordable school, working my butt off in the process, and transfer to the school I wanted to go to. This could be your local state college or university or a reputable trade school.
On a side note, as a developer, I see more and more coding bootcamps offer very good training, at a fraction of the cost, and companies pairing with them for their graduates. That is also a potential solution to traditional schooling that I find would be benefiical, that we now have as an option.
Regardless of what you pick, the journey is the funnest part. I will always be in school for my own benefit. I love to learn and in my experience the size or name of a school doesn't make it worthwhile, so visit them and make sure the campus, culture, policies, etc align with your wants and needs.
Good Luck and have fun, but not too much fun ;)
Going to an ivy league school helps companies weed out, what they feel are, "lesser" candidates, but having worked with some I disagree. You can't know the quality and work ethic of an individual based solely on where they went to school.
That being said if I could do it over, I would get my associates at an affordable school, working my butt off in the process, and transfer to the school I wanted to go to. This could be your local state college or university or a reputable trade school.
On a side note, as a developer, I see more and more coding bootcamps offer very good training, at a fraction of the cost, and companies pairing with them for their graduates. That is also a potential solution to traditional schooling that I find would be benefiical, that we now have as an option.
Regardless of what you pick, the journey is the funnest part. I will always be in school for my own benefit. I love to learn and in my experience the size or name of a school doesn't make it worthwhile, so visit them and make sure the campus, culture, policies, etc align with your wants and needs.
Good Luck and have fun, but not too much fun ;)
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Thank you for your questions. In fact, this is a very common question that many students may have. Firstly, I think you may have to figure out what career(s) you would like to pursue before choosing the college.
Below are my suggestions :
1. Identify the careers you have interest and explore more on these careers
2. Shortlist 1-2 careers you would like to pursue and relevant subjects
3. Find the ranking of the colleges on these subjects
4. Attend the information sessions of the college and do a visit of the college if possible
5. Choose the college with good ranking and the culture that suits you
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Below are my suggestions :
1. Identify the careers you have interest and explore more on these careers
2. Shortlist 1-2 careers you would like to pursue and relevant subjects
3. Find the ranking of the colleges on these subjects
4. Attend the information sessions of the college and do a visit of the college if possible
5. Choose the college with good ranking and the culture that suits you
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Updated
Dorina’s Answer
Choosing a college can definitely feel overwhelming.
1. Determine if you are looking to stay in state or out state.
2. What are you interested in pursuing as a degree?
3. If you don't have a specific degree in mind would a 2 year junior college be a good start off point? Junior college is a great and inexpensive way to complete general ed courses and take a few intro courses in a career you may be interested in.
4. Once you have narrowed your list down to a few schools make appointments for campus tours and overnights in dorms if you are thinking about dorming.
5. Don't focus so much on rankings and rather on the things that are important to you. Small class sizes? Good sports programs? Music programs?
6. Ultimately, your decision is not final. If you find that your choice has not been a good fit you can always transfer.
I thought I had to go straight to a 4 year university after high school. I applied to 4 and got accepted to 3. I started the semester and unfortunately financial circumstances caused me to have to leave after 1 semester. I ended up going to a 2 year Junior College and was able to take ALL my general ed courses and finally decide on Business Administration for my degree. I got to take many Intro Business Leadership and Management courses so it was a much better transition once I transferred to a University.
1. Determine if you are looking to stay in state or out state.
2. What are you interested in pursuing as a degree?
3. If you don't have a specific degree in mind would a 2 year junior college be a good start off point? Junior college is a great and inexpensive way to complete general ed courses and take a few intro courses in a career you may be interested in.
4. Once you have narrowed your list down to a few schools make appointments for campus tours and overnights in dorms if you are thinking about dorming.
5. Don't focus so much on rankings and rather on the things that are important to you. Small class sizes? Good sports programs? Music programs?
6. Ultimately, your decision is not final. If you find that your choice has not been a good fit you can always transfer.
I thought I had to go straight to a 4 year university after high school. I applied to 4 and got accepted to 3. I started the semester and unfortunately financial circumstances caused me to have to leave after 1 semester. I ended up going to a 2 year Junior College and was able to take ALL my general ed courses and finally decide on Business Administration for my degree. I got to take many Intro Business Leadership and Management courses so it was a much better transition once I transferred to a University.
Updated
Scott’s Answer
I agree with others here that this isn’t necessarily a simple question to answer. There are many things to consider ranging from cost to location, etc.
My first thought would be to ask, do you know or think you know what you want to do or what you want to go to college for?
If not, first of all, don’t worry, many don’t know until late in their sophomore year and there’s nothing wrong with that. So if not, you may want to consider attending a community college that costs less so that you can take a combination of your basic required courses as well as take courses in subjects you think you might like. In doing it this way you can save some money while getting a feel for what might interest you. From there you could transfer to a 4yr school and get your bachelors degree. (I went this route, did not get my associates from the community college but transferred all credits to my 4yr college so my degree is from the 4yr college only). I saved a lot of money doing it this way which I needed to do since I had to pay for all of my own college. It worked well for me.
If you do know or think you know what you want to study then you could still use a community college or apply directly to a 4yr school. My advice here would be to seek out a school that has an excellent rating or the best rating for the cost in the specific subject you want to study. Don’t get lost in the overall rating of the college as much as the ranking/ rating for the subject you want to study. As an example, ASU is a very good college, I think it just makes it into the top 50 colleges so not “Ivy league” but a good school. However, it’s business degree program is ranked in the top 10, maybe even the top 5.
Other things to take into account is cost of living on campus or in the area if off campus, location. Proximity to home if that matters for you, can you get a better deal on tuition with an “in state tuition” cost as compared to an out of state, etc. Again using ASU as an example, out of state runs somewhere over 50K a year whereas in state is around 20K a year.
I wish you the best of luck and wherever you go remember, it doesn’t need to be Ivy League to help your career.
My first thought would be to ask, do you know or think you know what you want to do or what you want to go to college for?
If not, first of all, don’t worry, many don’t know until late in their sophomore year and there’s nothing wrong with that. So if not, you may want to consider attending a community college that costs less so that you can take a combination of your basic required courses as well as take courses in subjects you think you might like. In doing it this way you can save some money while getting a feel for what might interest you. From there you could transfer to a 4yr school and get your bachelors degree. (I went this route, did not get my associates from the community college but transferred all credits to my 4yr college so my degree is from the 4yr college only). I saved a lot of money doing it this way which I needed to do since I had to pay for all of my own college. It worked well for me.
If you do know or think you know what you want to study then you could still use a community college or apply directly to a 4yr school. My advice here would be to seek out a school that has an excellent rating or the best rating for the cost in the specific subject you want to study. Don’t get lost in the overall rating of the college as much as the ranking/ rating for the subject you want to study. As an example, ASU is a very good college, I think it just makes it into the top 50 colleges so not “Ivy league” but a good school. However, it’s business degree program is ranked in the top 10, maybe even the top 5.
Other things to take into account is cost of living on campus or in the area if off campus, location. Proximity to home if that matters for you, can you get a better deal on tuition with an “in state tuition” cost as compared to an out of state, etc. Again using ASU as an example, out of state runs somewhere over 50K a year whereas in state is around 20K a year.
I wish you the best of luck and wherever you go remember, it doesn’t need to be Ivy League to help your career.
Updated
Gabriella’s Answer
When applying to schools about 6 years ago, I found it important to make a list of my "must-haves", things I would like to have in a school, and things that you are okay without having.
Some examples of this could be:
- Location (ask yourself how far away you want to be from home, out of state vs in state, etc)
- Cost
- 2-year vs 4-year school (research the program offerings for both, find which sounds like the best fit for you)
- Program offerings (i.e. if you are really passionate about computer science and would like to explore this path, ensure that the schools that you are applying to have a computer science program/major)
- If there is a subject that you're interested in, I recommend reaching out to older students, family members, etc. who are either studying or working in that field to gain insight.
- Student life (Is there a certain organization that you would like to be a part of? i.e. Sororities & Fraternities, a Sports Club, a certain honor society, etc)
I do think it is possible to begin college without having it all figured out, but I do recommend going into it with a few majors/subjects that interest you, so that you will be able to get the most out of your experience/investment.
Some examples of this could be:
- Location (ask yourself how far away you want to be from home, out of state vs in state, etc)
- Cost
- 2-year vs 4-year school (research the program offerings for both, find which sounds like the best fit for you)
- Program offerings (i.e. if you are really passionate about computer science and would like to explore this path, ensure that the schools that you are applying to have a computer science program/major)
- If there is a subject that you're interested in, I recommend reaching out to older students, family members, etc. who are either studying or working in that field to gain insight.
- Student life (Is there a certain organization that you would like to be a part of? i.e. Sororities & Fraternities, a Sports Club, a certain honor society, etc)
I do think it is possible to begin college without having it all figured out, but I do recommend going into it with a few majors/subjects that interest you, so that you will be able to get the most out of your experience/investment.
Updated
David’s Answer
Hello Kenny,
Great question. To begin, I think the first thing to ask yourself is what are your expectations and goals for attending college. Not everyone has the same reasons for going. Once that is answered, you need to ask yourself if you want to commute and live at home or go away and live on campus. This will help to figure out if you are staying local or not. Then you need find out which college fits your needs, academically and socially. Some people prefer the big campus life while others prefer a more intimate setting. I think this is a very important decision to figure out before deciding where to go. Research the college for the discipline you will study and see what they offer. Are they known or recognized for it? Truth be told when it's time to go out in the real world and work, most places of employment won't be overly concerned about where you went to college unless it's a big time high profile job. You will win them over in your interview and with your experiences. They will want to know what kind of person you are more so than where you attended college. Lastly, see what extra curricular and social events the college has (Fraternities, Intramural Sports, etc.). College years are a very unique and once in a lifetime experience so while you are there to earn a degree you need to enjoy the experience and have fun as well. There will never be another time like it in your life so enjoy it. Hope this helps!!
Great question. To begin, I think the first thing to ask yourself is what are your expectations and goals for attending college. Not everyone has the same reasons for going. Once that is answered, you need to ask yourself if you want to commute and live at home or go away and live on campus. This will help to figure out if you are staying local or not. Then you need find out which college fits your needs, academically and socially. Some people prefer the big campus life while others prefer a more intimate setting. I think this is a very important decision to figure out before deciding where to go. Research the college for the discipline you will study and see what they offer. Are they known or recognized for it? Truth be told when it's time to go out in the real world and work, most places of employment won't be overly concerned about where you went to college unless it's a big time high profile job. You will win them over in your interview and with your experiences. They will want to know what kind of person you are more so than where you attended college. Lastly, see what extra curricular and social events the college has (Fraternities, Intramural Sports, etc.). College years are a very unique and once in a lifetime experience so while you are there to earn a degree you need to enjoy the experience and have fun as well. There will never be another time like it in your life so enjoy it. Hope this helps!!