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Finding
The Right College For You
At The College
of Saint Rose, we understand that the college search process
can be a bit intimidating. After all, you are expected to balance
your daily schoolwork and activities with studying for the SAT,
and pondering some pretty serious questions about your career and
lifelong goals, as well as where you want to live for the next few
years. Sound tough? It doesn’t have to be. Keep this in mind
as you sift through the piles of brochures and surf from Web site
to Web site: your goal is not to find the “right” college—it
is to find
the college that is right for you.
Develop a Personal Profile
As you think about the type of college that might be right for you,
you are developing a personal profile—a list of characteristics
that are important to you. To narrow down the type of institution
that you are looking for, begin by asking yourself the following
questions:
- Am I interested in attending a large research university or
a small liberal arts college?
- Would I prefer a campus that is located in an urban, rural,
or suburban area?
- Do I feel strongly about attending college close to home or
would I consider going to a school that is far away or out-of-state?
- Are there any academic programs or majors in which I am interested?
What are they?
- Which extracurricular clubs or sports interest me?
- Would I prefer to live on-campus or an off-campus apartment
or would I prefer to commute from home?
Right now, you may not know the answers to some of these questions,
but just by thinking about them, you will begin to realize what
is important to you in choosing a college.
Researching Colleges: Where
to Look and What to Find
After you take the SAT/ACT, your mailbox will rapidly fill with
brochures from colleges and universities that would like to tell
you about their institutions. Through these brochures, you will
discover each college’s history and values as well as its location,
size and academic offerings.
Talk to Your Guidance Counselor
He or she has information on a variety of colleges and can show
you how to search for colleges online using sites such as Petersons.com,
NYMentor.com,
and nycolleges.org.
Your guidance counselor also can also tell you which colleges offer
the best programs in a particular major, as well as the selectivity
of certain institutions.
Compare Colleges
When you are researching colleges, you should be looking for information
to compare to the personal profile that you created earlier. For
example, if you have decided that you are interested in attending
a small college where you will receive individual attention from
your professors, then you shouldn’t waste too much time looking
at materials from large universities with classes taught by graduate
assistants. Following are some points that you may be interested
in comparing as you research colleges:
- Academic offerings, as well as pre-professional, accelerated
or dual degree programs
- Career preparation and locations where students complete internships
and field experiences
- Student/faculty ratio and opportunities for faculty mentoring
- Average class size
- Employment rates of recent graduates
- Costs, Financial
Aid and Scholarship Opportunities
- Diversity of the campus population
- Opportunities for study abroad
- Services for students, such as academic support, technological
facilities, and services for students with disabilities
- Athletics, as well as clubs, activities and community service
opportunities
- Career counseling services
Visiting College Campuses
Since visiting
colleges takes time, and in some cases requires travel expenses,
use your resources wisely. That means, you should only be visiting
colleges that have the characteristics that you think would help
you succeed in college.
As you walk around the campus, watch the students and faculty.
Do they stop and talk to each other or interact in other ways?
If your tour guide is a current student, feel free to ask him or
her some questions about his or her personal experience. Why
did they choose to attend this college? Which clubs or organizations
do they belong to? What is their major?
·At some point during your visit, stop and take a look around—what
is the atmosphere like? Is this a place where you might feel
comfortable?
After your visit, write down at least one impression of each area
that you visited and see how it compares with the “ideals”
that you outlined in your personal profile. For example, if small
class size is important to you, consider how many lecture halls
you noticed on your tour and how many smaller classrooms you were
shown.
The College Interview
While the college interview is your opportunity to tell of your
successes or explain any academic difficulties, and to describe
the assets that you will bring to the campus if you are accepted,
it also is a time for you to ask questions about the college and
gather more information. Think of it as your opportunity to interview
your interviewer!
Don’t be afraid of asking questions that seem too silly or
even too serious—it is the admissions counselor’s responsibility
to give you all of the information that you need.
Applying to College
Remember the personal profile that you created in the very beginning
of your college search?
Well, as you research and visit different colleges you may change
your mind about some of those answers that you originally had. However,
when it comes time to apply
to colleges, you should only be applying to those that comfortably
fit your original or revised profile.
Apply
today! Applying on-line automatically
waives your application fee.
After You Are Accepted
Whether you have been accepted to one college or several colleges,
it is a good idea to visit the campuses again, perhaps staying overnight
this time, just to help you be sure of the school that you are choosing
to attend.
Remember, the college search process is not about applying to
the “right” college—it is about finding the college
that is right for you!
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The college search process is not about applying to the“right”
college— it is about finding the college that is right for
you!
The college search pro-
cess is an investment of time and energy for you and your family.
Organ-
ization is an important part—the more organized you are, the
more fun you will have discovering the right college for you.
That's why we have developed the Campus
VisitPocket Guide, our exclusive guide filled with fun
facts and tips that can make college visits easier for you and your
family. If you wish to receive this Campus Visit Pocket Guide immediately,
click here.
Remember these tips:
Develop a personal profile.
Research colleges.
Talk to your guidance counselor.
Compare colleges.
Visit college campuses.
During a college interview, ask questions about the college and
gather more information.
Don’t be afraid to
ask questions.
After you have been accepted to one college or several colleges,
it is a good idea to visit the campuses again.
Remember: Deadlines
are important!
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