subject: Choosing A College: Helpful Empirical How-to Guidelines. [print this page] Choosing a college is often a serious challenge for high school graduates as they may be not clearly defined about their future profession choice, their preferences in subjects are not yet clearly articulated and they are lost in the variety of choices higher education offers to them. Hence, they are often unable to make objective college choices and formulate their goals, which may seriously impede on their ability to make the right choice. The present article aims at solving the major problems in choosing a college and offers a set of guidelines to follow in this process. Once they are completed, the student will be able to narrow the scope of search and make more realistic and argument-based decisions.
Steps to Complete in the Process of Choosing a College.
1. The initial step is to decide on the aim of going to college, outlining the main objectives one wishes to accomplish through studying in a college. This step may be undertaken through assessment of high school grades, preferences in subjects or future profession choice. Talks with parents, pieces of advice with friends and discussion with the high school counselors who have an objective view of the students performance may also be helpful.
3. Financial possibilities of ones family are also a decisive factor; financial aid programs and various scholarships have to be searched long before the time to enter a college comes. In case nothing suits the individual, it will be necessary to rely only on ones own opportunities.
4. As soon as the major guidelines for choosing a college have been formulated, the individual has to outline the key criteria for the college in which he or she wants to study: specialization, major disciplines, the size of the college, campus resources, the reputation and ranking of college, social and religious facilities, and surely the entrance criteria it stipulates for the enrollees.
