College Bound? What are some great questions to ponder?

I recently met with a young woman who is contemplating which college would be the best fit for her.  Considerations are always resources: funds vs. tuition, room and board, books, quality of school, elements of education including peers and professors and how prepared the aspiring student feels to conquer undergraduate work.  I'm not naming all of the challenges, but you get the picture.

Other than rankings like those listed on U.S. News and World Reports top 100 colleges (tuition is also listed), thoughts to consider:

• Do you thrive in an intimate classroom where you're one of 16 rather than one of 500?
• Do you prefer interactive learning where the professor asks you direct questions and challenges you personally or do you prefer listening to lectures and taking tests?  You may want to visit this learning styles website to help determine how you best learn.  This will help you apply this information when interviewing schools because you can ask about teacher student ratio.  Plus, when determining your major, you can ask those professors how they teach.
• Are you easily swayed by others to procrastinate?  If you are, going to a school that's rural or removed from a city might be a better choice to limit distractions.  If you are driven and require distractions to function better, going to a school in a city might be ideal.
• Do you want a private school or public?  The major difference is usually the school's affiliation to a religion.  If your beliefs are strong, you'll find your religious community wherever you land, and having the community already built in the school and curriculum can be wonderful.
• Visit the school.  Ask yourself if these people seem to be the type of people (students and teachers) who will inspire you to become who you want to be.  If you don't feel excited by the people, check in with yourself to see if it's fear of success or really just not liking the people.  Go with your gut.
• College is the place where you will form friendships with people who will help you succeed the rest of your life.  If you don't think these people will do that, you may not be a fit for that college.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. 

As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler."

~Henry David Thoreau

Copyright 2010 Heather Corwin