Advice from a Parent on the College Search Process
The college search process can be incredibly daunting for high school students. In my experience at a public high school in the midwest, there was minimal support given to us as students and we were expected to figure most things out on our own if we wanted to be set up for success. My parents were a huge help to me outside of school, and I am writing this post today to share my experience and the best advice they gave me about all things related to applying to college.
Firstly, I want to say that everyone has different goals for college and it is so important to focus on yourself and your own plans and process. Definitely when you’re in high school, and unfortunately for a lot of parts of life, people love to feed on comparison. When your friends and classmates start this process and start sending out their applications and getting responses it might start to take a toll on your mental health. My parents always reminded me to focus on my own stuff when things were starting to get to me, and that was so helpful. You might run into a situation where your friends have gotten multiple acceptances with good scholarships and you have gotten no word back or even some rejections. It is so crucial to focus on yourself and not fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others. College might seem like the only thing that matters when you are in the application process, but everything will work out and you will end up in the right place.
One thing that my mom would always say to me when I was applying was “do your research” and I’ll add that it helps to do it early. This might seem like an obvious tip, but it is so helpful in every single part of this process. For one, you are going to be spending the next part of your life at this school so I think it’s pretty important to know what it’s like. Look into the academics to see if they have a solid program for what you want to study, and also look into backup programs in case you end up disliking your first plan, which is very common and not the end of the world. I think a solid timeline is to start thinking about what you want to study and what area you want to be in during freshman year, continue thinking in sophomore year and start a broad list of schools, narrow that list in junior year and go on tours, then apply during senior year. Obviously there are a ton more things to do throughout that process, but that is a basic outline will hopefully yield some solid results.
Another great piece of advice from my parents that I definitely had a harder time coming around to is “stay open to all colleges, some may surprise you”. Based on my own experience, I think more people could really benefit from taking that advice, and I think that I definitely did. I will admit, when I first started the search I was a person who judged a college a lot by its stereotypical reputation, both socially and academically, and sort of left it at that. Some of those things are good to consider, but it is much more important to form your own opinion on every school. I am studying computer science, and I was very influenced by the rankings for computer science programs at the schools I was considering. While this might be impactful in a handful of programs, you really should not let it be the deciding factor for you. While a top 10 program is very different from a program ranked out of the top 200, the reality is that programs with a smaller gap contain almost negligible differences. If you are really concerned about your program as opposed to things like the location or student activities, look into the specifics of each program instead of its ranking. For me, DePaul has a bunch of cool partnerships with tech companies in Chicago that have made it way more beneficial for my career than another university.
I will conclude with another piece of advice that my mom stands by: “go with your gut”. At the end of the day, you will get a feeling when you tour a school and actually step foot on its campus. Between the way it’s laid out, the students, the faculty, and the overall vibe, you are going to have schools that feel right and schools that don’t, and the choice is up to you. Use the vast amount of resources online to stay informed on the process, consult with friends and family to maintain your mental health, and remember to stay positive, it will all work out!
~Jeff