Many factors are important to look for in colleges: having the solid major that you want, having a strong major in your secondary/tertiary interests, cost and scholarships offered, geographic and cultural environment. But there are plenty of other factors that PrincetonReview and CollegeBoard aren’t equipped to tell you, because they are not talking directly to you. This is why social networking is an important skill in the college search (and all searches related to school or employment). Social networking can get you more personal information about the topics that are important to you.
Who to Go To
Guidance counselors are a good place to start, but once you’ve asked them all the questions you feel comfortable asking them, talk to people who know you personally. Older siblings or friends will be able to point out things that will make a difference to you, such as the personalities of the accepted students, the prevalent subcultures, or a personal experience that shaped their perception of the college.
Things You Might Ask
Once you find someone who has been to the college you are interested in, only you can determine what is important to you in a learning and living environment. But if you don’t know where to start, here are some questions you might want to ask.
- What do you wish you had done differently in your college search?
Learn from other people’s mistakes. Hearing college research advice from someone you trust is vastly different from hearing such advice from a website or guidance counselor (even though that advice is still helpful). You might need to take certain things about yourself into account that you wouldn’t have thought about before such as how important a nightlife is to you, or whether you want to try a field that you have no experience in.
- What is the college’s personality?
The college’s climate is affected by many factors, such as the school’s mission statement (research-driven, service-driven, health-driven), the subcultures and cliques in the student body (indie kids, emo kids, sporty kids, socially repressed), or the interaction between the students and the faculty (Are they open with each other? Is there tension?).
- What surprised you most about the college?
Your experience at college will never be exactly what you expect. You might be surprised at the opinions and political/religious stances held by the professors. You might be surprised by how many people from different circles become friends with others of your circle by the end of your senior year. And, you might be surprised by how accepting the college is of different beliefs.
- What surprised you about yourself?
If you’re like most college students, chances are that you won’t be the same person when you come out of college that you were when you entered. Some changes are so drastic that they require you to transfer altogether. Thus, a good question to ask yourself might be, does this college have a diverse enough atmosphere that I would feel accepted if my beliefs or attitudes completely change?
Remember, you can never completely prepare for college. Environments are as complicated as the people who make them up, so no one knows what a campus is going to be like until they experience it. But the more questions you can ask from people who have been there and can give personal feedback, the more real-world knowledge you will have about the college.
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