subject: College Admission Make An Informed Choice [print this page] College admissions are key decisions of an individuals career. Getting into a right college not only provides necessary skills but also helps shaping an individuals personality. This, however, is easier said than done. There is a deluge of universities and colleges across the world promising you career that you always wanted. However, one can be never sure about the veracity of such claims, particularly for oversea universities.
If you are an aspiring college student, you should first decide on the career field that you want to pursue. It should be more aligned with your strengths and areas of interests than peer/parental pressure. One can also take assistance of career counselors to come up with right career options. The next step is to create a list of potential colleges and university which you want to consider. While creating this list, factors such as admission requirement, past record of the institution, placement scenario, infrastructure and tuition fee etc should be considered. One should also consider college rankings to decide on colleges of choice.
For some university admissions, there are certain qualifying examinations which are required to be cleared with specific grades or scores such as GMAT for MBAs and GRE for engineering. To study in some foreign universities, one is also required to undertake language proficiency exams such as TOEFL.
While deciding on the institution of your choice, it is also important to get this information validated. One way is to speak with some of your friends (or known) who are currently studying in the colleges. Alternatively, there are various websites which offer comparison between various colleges. These websites publish feedback from the current and past student about the quality of the college and give important information regarding things to watch out for. These sites also carry pictures and videos to give an idea about physical infrastructure. Information on college tuition, scholarships/ graduate assistantship is also available. These websites also talk about the general environment at the college and part time job options in and around the campus. Hence, one should leverage the strength of these websites to get into the best fit educational institution.
