How to Select the Right College

The following is an excerpt from High School Money Book, copyright 2007, 2008 Don Silver and excerpt reprinted with permission.

Once you decide you want to go to college, you face thousands of choices.

Six steps to help find the right college for you:

1. Determine your field of interest.

Ideally, when you enter high school, start thinking about the kind of work you’ll want to do after you complete college. Don’t let the task overwhelm you since you will probably have many different kinds of jobs in several different fields over your work lifetime. However, you have to start somewhere.

If you have many different areas of interest, take a sheet of paper and label one half “pros” and the other “cons.” Then, write down your top three areas of interest and list the pros and cons below them.

Among the factors to consider for each subject area are: (1) your interest/passion in the subject area, (2) how it will benefit society, (3) the likelihood of your being able to graduate in that field and find a job to your liking and (4) the amount of money and security a job in that field offers.

Here’s a word about job security. The work world is constantly undergoing tremendous change. Some companies merge and come together, others reduce their workforce periodically to save money and some go bankrupt as they are unable to meet business challenges.

Your best job security is to always be learning and expanding your knowledge and skills. You may also have an entrepreneurial bent so your initial jobs may turn out to be learning experiences for the time you open your own business.

One way to determine your field of interest is to see it in action and talk to the people working in the field. For example, if you want to be a software programmer, call up software companies and make appointments to talk to or visit in person with programmers. Speak to people who have been working in the field two years, five years and ten years. See what their perspective is on the work, their enjoyment of it and whether they’d recommend that you enter the field in view of your interests and abilities and their experiences.

Every six months during the high school years (and yearly throughout your work career), repeat this process of listing your career choices, writing down the pros and cons and conducting your real-world interviews.

2. Get college counseling and info on colleges.

Just as you should start to determine your field of interest as soon as you enter high school, at the same time you should start thinking about the type of college you’d like to attend.

Start by talking with a college counselor. Review your list of fields of interest and the input you’ve received from talking to people working in these jobs. Then take the counselor’s information and gather your own information through the Internet—three sites to definitely check out are http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/, www.collegeboard.com and www.collegedirectorynetwork.com. Some states have a wealth of data on their public universities on state board of regents’ websites (e.g., in Ohio, look at http://regents.ohio.gov/colleges_universities.php).

3. Make a list of colleges.

Make your list of colleges with the assistance of a college counselor and your parents. Here’s what to look for:

• the reputation of the college especially in your main field of interest
• the reputation of the college in general
• whether it’s a small, medium or large college
• how close the college is to your home

Don’t use cost as a factor yet. There may be extra financial aid available from more expensive colleges so the cost may not end up being higher (or much higher) than others you are considering.

4. Look at the money issues.

Now is the time to look at the money issues and to give your parents a homework assignment—to read this chapter after you finish it.

Discuss money issues with a counselor and your parents. Work with your parents and use the calculators and information at www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/, www.finaid.org and www.collegeboard.com to help you through the process, including finding ways to pay for college.

5. Keep the long-term picture in mind.

You may be looking ahead to graduate school, too. Certain undergraduate colleges can help you get into a graduate program in your particular field of interest.

6. Look at the big picture of life.

The process of applying to college can be very stressful. Unfortunately, part of that process is not being accepted everywhere you’d like to be admitted.

Remember this as you go through the application process. You may not get into your “perfect” college. A rejection by a college is not a measure of your self-worth and for every door that closes in life, another one opens. Going to a particular college does not guarantee success in life, nor does it prevent it. Above all, you need to be a great person in life more than you need to graduate from a great college.

Comments

[The Yooper]

One other thing worth doing is to meet someone in the field you are choosing and job shadow with them. I have several friends who went to college, got the degree, and found out afterwords that they hated the jobs they got. It may not even be the work itself but the culture that is present in the workplace.

Another added benefit is people in the field can give you an honest opinion of the school, from where it matters, from the eyes of the employer.

Just because a college has a "College of Engineering" doesn't mean it is competent or even respected and you may end up with a sub-par education and everyone will know it. Reputation is everything, the right field, with the right school, and you can waltz through job interviews. Get the wrong school with the wrong program and you won't even get interviews.