There is no easy answer to this, you are sitting on your study desk thinking about the number of colleges you should apply to. It’s a simple yet very complex decision to make. Many high school scholars have this very problem.
First of all, I think this is a thought that pops up as we are about to write the final exams, during the final exams and also after the final exams, you should start by considering where you want to go and why you and to go there, we sometimes make hasty decisions because of peer pressure or out of sheer excitement.
Benefits of Making Decisions Early
It makes saying goodbye to your family and friends a bit easier for you, seeing as you would have the whole summer to yourself before college. Making decisions also proves how you can get out of a tough situation, the quicker you make this decision the faster you can stop stressing about it.
You have a better chance of getting in if you apply really early because it would be less because people tend to decide late, you get responses quicker to before you finally choose where you want to go.
Getting a scholarship to study the course of your choice, when you apply early and your portfolio matches one of their ideal candidates, you are liable to be included in the program.
Early application can be quite helpful and quite frankly more important, it can change your personal mentality. Applying really early to a school you like can significantly reduce your stress, since you won’t have to balance admissions and academics and for a new student that is usually hard.
Higher education is important and working hard to get into college is equally as important to most students as well as parents too.
Factors to Consider When Applying for College
- Location: this is the part where you think about moving from your friends and being away from your family, is it going to be on the other side of the world or in the same environment as your high school. The location of your college matters, do you want to branch out and have a different view of life from the rest of the world? Can you afford to live all by yourself far from home?
- Size: the bigger the school, the more resources it’s bound to have, these are things you should think of. You don’t want to get into a school where there are no resources to teach or learn with, going to a big college means there are a hundred courses to choose from due to their large budgets.
- Academic excellence: you might want to choose a school that has a record of producing the best and brightest, check their curriculum and schedules, and compare them to other schools to know if it is something you can handle or something that can challenge you.
- Cost of living: choosing a college that you can cope with when it comes to finances should be amongst other things, it is safe and wise to choose the best college that will favor you in terms of finance.
- Campus safety: one of the first factors to consider when applying to your choice of college.
Applying to colleges helps one determine their level of responsibility and independence, seeing as you are graduating from high school and venturing into the real world of college, choosing the college you think is best for you is also allowing yourself to choose the school you will excel in.
It is wise to apply to over five to nine colleges, there is;
2-3 first schools: That is a safety school and a safety school is a college to which you’re applying because you’re confident you meet the requirements to be admitted.
2-3 second schools: This is a target school and a target school is a college that you have about a 50-50 chance of getting into because your grades covered the average for admission.
2-3 reach schools: Include colleges you’d love to attend but that have admission standards or costs that seem like a stretch for you. And if you are lucky you could get financial aid to make attending your dream college a reality.
Considering colleges and applying to them are two different things, you need to check the one that ticks all your boxes and apply to them, remember it is not a rushed decision, you take your time to avoid making mistakes. Being happy while going to school is the most important thing while checking it out.
Conclusion
Like the saying ‘better safe than sorry’ you need to apply to so many colleges so you can also get so many offers while on it.
It is not easy making this kind of decision because there is a lot of emotion involved but you should remember that you are choosing something that can determine your future, so it is okay to be selfish with it.
