By Ilena Gilbertson
Students all around the world attend college. Sometimes finding the right institution is a difficult choice. Most students start looking at colleges in their junior year of high school. Determining where to go can depend on what major you want to study, a desired location, or many other reasons. Finding the right college can seem nearly impossible if you don’t know what you want to do for the rest of your life, but with a few tips it can be a successful adventure into an exciting time.
The first step is figure out what you want to major in. Most students decide to change their major after their first year, so a general field of study is common for a lot of undecided students. The most common majors selected are engineering, physics, and economics, but some majors can be very specific.
“I am going to either go into pre med or chemical/biomedical engineering,” said Mitchell Knoth, Batavia High School junior.
Some people choose to complete a double major for extra background when finding the right job. Taylor Knuth, a current BHS junior, is thinking about double majoring in ceramics and drawing for her Bachelors of Fine Arts. Even alumnus of college sometimes wish that their major could have changed due to their current job. Steve Gilbertson, former college student, majored in business. He wishes that he had majored in sales instead.
The next step in the college process is to figure out if you are going to attend a college for sports or to stay in contact with your high school friends. Forrest Gilbertson, current college student, doesn’t want to play any college sports. Forrest has played football since he was in second grade. In his freshman year of college, Forrest played football at University of Wisconsin- Platteville. He wanted to only play his freshman year because he wanted to explore a different view on college. He realized college football wasn’t for him. Others choose to have a sport throughout college. Taylor and Mitchell would like to continue with their sports.
“I hope to be a cheerleader,” Knuth said.
She wants to continue her cheer career from high school into college. Mitchell also wishes to pursue his passion for cheer at the University of Illinois.
Steve wishes that he had kept up his baseball career through college. He ended his career senior year in high school. Every person has a different view on sports in college. Some students may regret that they didn’t participate in college athletics.
Taylor feels that having friends at college has its advantages and it has disadvantages. She states that having friends will make school have comfort but can lead to distractions from studies. Steve thinks that knowing a couple people at college is a good thing. They can supply comfort.
Friends can also lead to troubles in college. They can result in a lack of focus on your studies or even lead you to going to parties. It’s important to go to school to become your own person, because sometimes you could end up being apart of a group instead of becoming your own person.
“Too much time with one person. You are known as a group and not as an individual,” Forrest said. Forrest chose to attend a different college than his friends from high school because he wanted to be made his own person.
The third step is to look at colleges that interest you and provides classes and a major for your future studies. People choose their college not only for their major but for location, money, or if a family member had attended that college.
Young college bound students face many challenges when looking for the right school. With a little guidance and some knowledge of career choice, this can be a fun and exciting experience.