When first choosing a college, you need to
divide your college choices into three categories: top-choice schools or those
that are most difficult to get into, your second choice schools or ones that
you have a reasonable chance of getting into and that you would be excited to
attend, and finally your "safety colleges”, those schools that you will
definitely get into. It is a good idea to try having 2 or 3 colleges that fit
into each of the different categories.
The next step is to narrow down the college
choices by doing some research. Talk to counselors, teachers, family friends
and even your parents--these people will be full of friendly advice and, since
they know you, they may have specific reasons for recommending a certain
college to you.
When you think about schools, you need to
consider what you really want in an education. A pre-professional education
prepares you for a specific job and includes areas such as engineering and
pre-med. Some schools like M.I.T. have very strong programs for those interested
in the sciences, but might not be right for someone interested in literature. A
liberal arts education, on the other hand, aims to equip you with general
knowledge and reasoning skills suitable for many jobs.
You also want to ask how the college ranks
in the major you want to study--some schools are stronger in some areas and
weaker in others. While it may be too early for you to know whether you want to
major in English or history, check out how strong the programs and professors
are in the various fields you are considering. One indication of how much
emphasis a university places on a major is to find out how many students are
studying that major, how many courses are offered in the field and how many
faculty members teach the courses associated with that major and others like
it. If you want a major in a narrow field, you might have to consider a larger
university.
No comments:
Post a Comment