Tips for Selecting a College
No one is an expert on what you need except God. But here are a few practical tips.
It's time to do some hard thinking about the type of major you want. Spend a few hours alone (with no music or television playing) to think about your talents and the subjects in which you excel. If you are clueless about a major, now is the time to start getting some high quality career counseling. Start with your high school guidance counselor. If your school is not meeting your needs, see the link at left for Ability Potentials, Inc. They or your school guidance counselors can help you narrow down your career choices with aptitude tests. If you don't make these decisions now, you will be choosing a school with out any clear goals in mind! Don't drift through life; set goals that are commensurate with your abilities.
Some questions to ask yourself are: Do you like to work with people or computers more? Do you want to work outdoors or would an office suit you? Do you like to travel? Do you like sports or reading books more? Did your math homework calm you down or make you nervous? Do you like to write poetry or play music? Knowing yourself and your likes and dislikes can help you choose a major and a school. Does law, medicine, psychology, computers, business, languages, history, art, music, teaching, sports, or communications interest you more?
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Selecting a College (con 't)
Bear in mind that what you like to do may not pay your rent when you graduate. You may want to play in a band, but you need a steady career to pay for your hobby. Your career is your vocation, and music then becomes your advocation. It takes common sense to sort out what plans and goals will really work in the long run. Become a good salesperson and you can have any expensive hobby you like (like collecting expensive cars or buying a vacation home in Europe).
Look in the Classified section under help wanted of a city you would like to live in. Who is hiring and what kind of degrees are they looking for? Things may change in four years, but start to develop this technique of planning backwards from the job offerings that interest you to the degree that you need. People who plan backwards from their goals will succeed. Your goal should be to get a job and be living on your own, supporting yourself with no help from your parents once you graduate. To do that, you need a job that pays enough to support yourself.
Next, think about the type of environment that you flourish in. Do you want to go to school in a big city or out in the country? Do you want to go to a large state school or a small private school? Do you want to commute or live out of town at school?
Don't take into account where your friends are going, think about what is best for you! Match the college to your personality. Are you shy or are you confident? Don't forget to look at the average size of a class. Do you really want to be lost in a lecture class of 300 people?
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