ESL Blogs

When you’re trying to decide where to go you realize how many choices there are out there. And it’s vital that you get it right. After all, if you find the right college then you’re going to end up inspired, motivated and engaged. If, on the other hand, you find the wrong college then you’re going to end up with a mountain of debt and possibly without a degree to help you pay it off.

So how do you narrow it down? How do you find the college of your choice?

That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Don’t be too humble

The first thing to do when you’re looking for colleges is not think too lowly of yourself. After all, since you can only attend one, you don’t actually need all of them to say yes. Just one will do. So aim high.

In fact, a good system is to aim at rejection. That sounds like a strange thing to say, but it works. Aim to get twenty or thirty rejections from top-end universities. If you do that you might end up ‘disappointed’ when one says yes.

Of course, this does not mean that you should apply poorly. That’s not how it goes. Do the best you can on each application, but don’t worry about it too much if it doesn’t work.

Look at colleges that have people like you

Of course you want to look at universities that have good professors. That goes without saying. Don’t just look at the professors, though. Also look at the student body, because it’s those people that you’re going to be hanging out with.

Are there groups that you’d like to attend? Do the students do activities that you’d like? Are they on the same wavelength and do they talk about the same things? All of these things matter, for the hope is that you’ll make some life-long friends at university and that’s a lot easier to do if they’re more like you.  

Don’t start out with applying to your top choice

Applying to colleges is a skill. That means that you get better at it over time. You’ll find mistakes that you were making, correct your language and generally write a better application. For that reason, don’t apply to your first choice right off the bat.

Instead, take a few less important ones and write up your applications for them first. Then, when you’re in the groove and you know everything that you need to do, apply to the one that you really want to go to. Your application will be better and you’ll have a better shot of getting into the college of your dreams.

Start early

It goes without saying and yet it still needs to be said. Searching for colleges is not something that you start with at the last minute. For one thing, many universities close their registration more than half a year before the end of the school year.

That means you can’t actually apply to any of them if you’re too late. And that will mean that you might find your dream college but won’t be able to go, or that you’ll have to wait a whole year before you can. And that’s less than optimal.

So start early, get your paper work sorted and make sure that you’ve got your applications in by the deadlines listed on the website.

Don’t focus on the wrong things

Yes, that guy/girl you saw on the college green had a great smile, but that is really not what you should be focusing on. College is the foundation of your life. You don’t choose that because somebody had a nice smile, or because the cafeteria looked nice, or because it’s close enough to your parent’s house that you can do laundry there.

Focus on what matters. Are the classes interesting? Are the teachers good? Are you going to learn something that will set you up for life?

College is a long game, so make sure you’ve got the right stakes in mind when you decide where you want to go.

Don’t pay too much attention to your parents

Sure, their opinions matter. Chances are that they’ll be helping you out financially. At the same time, it won’t be them going to college, it will you. For that reason, don’t let them push you too hard. It’s your life and you’ve got to live it as you like.

So listen to them respectfully, let them know that you’ll certainly consider what they’re saying, but don’t let them make up your mind for you. If you don’t want to study accounting but want to study theater instead, then don’t study accounting and go find your inner Shakespeare.

 Sure, the accounting might set you up better for life if you finish it, but if you don’t then you’re going to be in a much worse situation, because any degree (even theater) is better than no degree at all.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Just because you think you’ve found your dream college doesn’t mean you have. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Instead, have a backup college – preferably several. In this way if the first college doesn’t accept you then you’ll still have the others.

Alternatively, if you find out that the college you thought was for you turns out not to be, then you can still opt for one of the other ones.

Last words

Yes, finding the college of your dreams is a lot of work. At the same time, you’ll only get to do it once in your life and if you screw it up that might well leave you hurtling at full speed towards a dead end. So take the time, do your homework and make sure that you find something that actually suits you.

If everything goes well, you’ll only have to do this once in your life, so make the most of it! This is you laying the foundation to your future. And the foundation decides what you’ll be able to build on top of it. Will it be a skyscraper or will it be a shack that falls down if you look at it wrong?