Two years ago, I was in the middle of my senior year of high school. During this year, I was still deciding where I wanted to study after I graduated. I had only recently confirmed with myself what I actually wanted to study and by then I had a limited amount of time before I had to send in all of my applications. While it was somewhat stressful trying to figure out where I should invest the next four years of my life, I was also excited. As I looked through all of my options, I imagined what I really wanted out my school before I finally came to a decision. Through this experience, I learned how to make a well informed choice about schooling and I do my best to help out anyone who asks.
The first step I took in deciding what school to go to was figuring out what career I wanted to spend my time on. I mentioned earlier that it wasn’t until late in my high school life that I actually decided on what I wanted to study. For most of my life, I said I wanted to be a veterinarian. I lost my motivation to study veterinary medicine fairly quickly, but everyone always seemed to get happy when I told them so I kept saying I wanted to be a veterinarian for maybe too long. When it came down to it, however, I switched my path to something I’ve had genuine interest for nearly all of my life: video games. While at first my parents were taken back by my seemingly sudden change of faith, they were still fully supportive of me and helped all they could with my new career choice. Making up my mind about becoming a game developer was the first and most important step I took in choosing my school. I recommend to anyone searching for their dream school to have a firm understanding of what path they want to take before getting attached to any schools.
The very next step in choosing the right school is the longest: research. Before applying to any school, it’s good that you know as much about them as possible. There are many sources and websites that can help you find out everything you need to know about a school. You should look into the courses that are offered, the benefits the school give to the students, what former students have to say about the school and faculty, the success rate of former students, and whatever else you believe is important. If you plan on living on campus, you should check what the dorms are like, what there is to do on or near campus, and what resident life is like in general. If you plan on commuting, you can check on a school’s parking availability and transportation services. You should never get lazy when it comes to researching and always to be sure to check all of your options before settling on one school. When I first started my college hunt, I thought I had found the perfect school right away. I immediately sent in an application and spent a few days thinking I was done. Eventually, I dug a little deeper into the school and discovered it wasn’t as perfect as I believed it to be. It was missing several things that every other school I researched provided and all of the student comments were negative. After that near disaster, I sat back down at my desk and went back to researching.
Once the research is done, you should have narrowed your choice down to only the schools you know you will enjoy; these should be all the schools that interest you and not have any extreme downsides over the others. With this narrowed list of schools, all that’s left to do is apply. The application process can feel long and tedious when you apply to each school, but you’ll feel good knowing each application you send is to a school that you believe is the best. Once the school’s respond and you’ve seen which ones have accepted you, it is now up to you to finally decide where you will study for the next few years.
One last important thing to keep in mind when it comes to picking your school is that this is your choice. You shouldn’t let others influence you too much when it comes to picking your school. Sure it’s fine for your take other people’s advice, but you should never feel pressured into choosing or dropping a school. When I searched for the right school, I wanted a school that would make my parents proud, set a good example for my sister, and provided all of what I wanted from a school. There are several schools that could fill the first two requirements, but I didn’t settle until I found one that satisfied all three. I believe I found a school that does and it took a lot of work. I am happy with my choice and that is the goal for anyone who is searching for college.
