Dear High School Student,
You may not be thinking about it right now, but before you know it you'll be graduating from the hollowed halls of your high school and moving on in your journey in life. If the path you choose is college, it can be a tough decision. There are so many throughout the U.S. with a wide variety of majors, athletics and tuition costs. It can get hectic while trying to find the one for you so here are a few tips and advice for your search.
1. Apply undecided.
Even if you 100% know your major, your high school GPA could not be up to their standards. Once you get there, work hard and boost your GPA so that you can get into the major you've had your heart set on. I know that if I had done this from the start I would have been accepted to so many more colleges.
2. Just because your friends are going there doesn't mean that you have to as well.
Everyone has a different idea of 'the perfect school'. You and your best friend might have the same preference in clothes or food, but college is a whole other level. You might want to live in a city for a change or way out in the middle of no where. While most of my friends went away to college, I took the less traditional route and went to a local community college and that's okay too.
3. Visit, visit, visit.
You can't truly get the feeling of a college through their website. You need to get on campus to check out the dorms, eating areas and location. Primarily because those are all crucial factors to your college choice. I visited a school and decided I absolutely could not go there because the dorms were not my idea of a good living situation. If you want to participate in athletics, meet and talk with the coaches while you're there.
4. It's okay to go away and decide you hate it.
You could pick a school that you think is perfect for you, spend the first couple weeks or a semester and then it turns out you hate it. It's okay to leave and transfer to another school or go home to a community college. I saw this many times my freshman year of college with friends and people I graduated with. Once that happens, you just have to figure out what your next step is.
5. You'll probably change your major at least once.
Going into it, you might think that you know it's what you want to do for the rest of your life but that might not be the case. You get into that introductory class all bubbly and bright, and then you hate it or fail. On a lesser note, if you're failing the class and you still have the option to drop it and not be penalized, do it. Don't let your GPA suffer just because of one class. Bringing your GPA up after you've failed a class is not an easy task so just take the incomplete.
6. Realize that college isn't for everyone.
Yes its the most popular choice once you graduate high school, but sometimes it's just not the right fit. There are plenty of other options that can lead you where you want to go in life: the military, beauty school, technical school, etc. The list goes on and on. Don't cross any off your list until you've got all the details and decided it's not a good fit for you.
