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January 7, 2009 • (952) 447-6669
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Family » School Days

What advice would you give high school seniors about choosing a college?

Submitted by Shawn Hogendorf on December 8, 2006 - 10:17am.
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As high school seniors get responses back from the colleges they applied to, what advice would you give them about accepting and attending college? High school students, what questions do you have about moving away from family and friends to start a new chapter of your life? Hopefully this discussion will open new ideas to some students who are unsure of the path that lies ahead.


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There are two parts to...

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There are two parts to selecting a college. 1) academics 2) social life. First, I would look for a program that matches your academic and professional goals, scholarship options and will challenge you.

Next, I would make sure that the location and social opportunities fit your personality. If you're a big-city person, are you sure that living in rural Minnesota on a campus that doesn't allow cars is for you? and vice versa.

Make sure that you look beyond freshman dorms and the cafeteria food. It's hard to think four years ahead, but ask about internship options, study abroad and upper-level programs.

Even check out dining and shopping in town. You'll be on campus for four years, so you'll want some places to go once you've explored all of campus and are ready to branch out.


Submitted by Joanna Miller on December 18, 2006 - 11:42am.

OR... just go to The...

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OR...

just go to The University of Iowa in Iowa City.


Submitted by Mark Gores on December 23, 2006 - 12:34pm.

...once you drive to Iowa,...

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...once you drive to Iowa, continue going south until you reach the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Go Jayhawks!


Submitted by Joanna Miller on December 26, 2006 - 1:32pm.

Missouri is south of...

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Missouri is south of Iowa.
DUH!
Did you study hard at Lawrence?


Submitted by Jsemkral on December 29, 2006 - 6:17pm.

As I said above, you have to...

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As I said above, you have to continue going "until you reach" Kansas.

Yes, that does require driving through part of Missouri and hopping on I-70. I guess I didn't make that clear.

I would never want students to stop in Missouri because that was one of our big rival schools at KU!

As for academics,  I earned two degrees with honors in four years (an English B.A. and a Journalism B.S.) I kept my academic scholarship all four years based on GPA.

So, on paper, I'm not a total idiot. In person, well...I do my best. (insert laughter here)

Any thoughts on schools people have attended? What other alma maters do people want to plug? What is good or bad about the school you attended?

 

 


Submitted by Joanna Miller on December 30, 2006 - 5:00pm.

If you are thinking of...

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If you are thinking of staying in state, or if you can't find your way to Kansas, I suggest the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities campus. Although the enrollment is large and the campus may seem intimidating, once students are out of the general clsses the school becomes very intimate.

Upperclass sizes are about 30 per class, and the internship opportunities are plentiful, as well as local. The size and diversity of the university allows the student who may not know what they want to study, a large and I mean large array of academic programs. There are also a lot of job opportunities to help keep some change in your pocket while attending class. 

As Joanna said, location and social opportunities are also very important, you will be attending the school and living in your chosen city for four or five years. If your adventurous and heading away from home for school, keep in mind your passions and interests. In addition to attending the U of M, I went to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, for two years. The skiing, hiking, mountain biking, rafting and photography was great. The people are from all over the country and they generally share similar outdoor intersts, so if you don't know anyone when you leave for school, you will meet ski or camping buddies once you get there. The job market for students was pretty tough, but the cost of living in town was reasonable.

My advice is to ask questions whenever you can and keep your options open. Have fun and whatever you do, don't load up your first semester with a bunch of "heavy" courses. Mix in some fun or interesting classes. As you will find out college is more of a marathon than a sprint. Good luck.  


Submitted by Shawn Hogendorf on January 2, 2007 - 11:17am.

The U of M a good school? No...

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The U of M a good school? No question. However, my advice as a parent whose child unsuccessfully applied there is this: Make sure it's not the ONLY college or university to which you are applying. This link, http://www.academic.umn.edu/provost/reports/fall06enroll_tc.html, will offer some details, but suffice to say that it's become tougher and tougher to get admitted to the Twin Cities U of M. Its freshman enrollment in the fall was 5,439. More than 24,600 applied for admission. In other words, if you're a high schooler focused on attending the U of M-Twin Cities, you'd better have a back-up plan.


Submitted by markaweber on January 2, 2007 - 4:37pm.

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