Expert: Todd Johnson - 10/20/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hello! I am so glad I came across your page! I am a senior in high school, and I am having major trouble with choosing a college.

The thing is, I don't really know what I want to do when I grow up or study as a major, so choosing a college has become quite problematic. I do know that I DON'T want to do anything like teaching, engineering, architecture, math, law, business, etc, so a tech school that specializes in anything like that is out of the question. I also know that I would consider stuff like art (film-making, animation, visual design, etc) or biology (mostly animal-related studies, ecology, marine bio, etc). However, those are completely different directions, and no college out there has strengths in both of those fields.

I've spoken with counselors and teachers and I know what I'm generally looking for in a college-- I need some place cheap (living expenses and all), somewhere with broad variety of majors, preferably somewhere that isn't a party school if possible, and near a city or somewhere where it is possible for me to work through college. My main purpose in going to college as of right now is to discover what I really want to do while earning credits, and possibly transfer if the school I attend does not offer my major.
I've got decent grades (Low A average) and an OK score on the ACT (26). I can get into good schools, but no Ivy Leagues (which I wouldn't want to go to anyway).

My biggest problem is knowing where I want to go. I've asked a lot of students, and many of them tell me that they know they want to go somewhere for one reason or another, and I don't really get the concept. I feel like I don't have much to work with in terms of narrowing down the thousands of colleges out there. What do you suggest?

ANSWER: Emi,

You have plenty of company. Most students don't really know what they want to do for a job when they finish college and most of those that do know, change their minds while in college.

College is about exploring your current interests and learning about new things that you may like. Don't worry about artificial rankings of colleges in deciding what is appropriate for you. If you might have an interest in art for instance, look to see how many professors there are in the department.  If there are only 2 that might be a concern because there isn't much depth. On the other hand, if it is a small college and they have 5 people in the department that is better.

I would suggest you look at the College Navigator website to look for colleges. Here is their link: http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/  That site allows you to search by size, location, average test scores, etc.

The other than that can be helpful is visiting some different types of colleges. This is not to find a particular college but rather to find what type of college you like. Big, small, midsize. Academically competitive or one that enjoys sports big time. The choice is really up to  you. By visiting different types of colleges you can hopefully start to get an idea of what sort of college you are looking for.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for the advice! However, I now have another question. Before I can look at preferences such as size or sports etc, I personally must look at costs. A lot of the colleges I've been looking at have out of state tuition at 40,000/year or so, and I know I definitely cannot afford that. But, I was told not to be discouraged from applying to these colleges because of potential scholarships and financial aid packages. I know it is hard to tell without all the nitty-gritty ecnomic information, but how much is typically expected to be rewarded as financial aid/scholarships? Like, would it put a significant dent in my yearly tuition or would it only cover a small amount for one year? (Or does it really all depend on circumstances?)

Thank you so much in advance,
Emi

Answer
Emi,

College financial aid is a complicated issue. I would suggest that you start with this page from my website. http://www.collegeadmissionspartners.com/resources/info-to-know/financial-aid-ba

In general terms, out of state public colleges will not be very affordable for a student that comes from a family with limited income. In state public colleges will be a much better deal. However, because of financial aid, expensive private colleges can often cost the same, or less, for a particular student as a cheaper college. Private colleges cost the same regardless of what state you live in.

Once you understand the basics of financial aid then you can use a website like the College Board's college search to see how different colleges handle financial aid. For instance, if you look at a particular college under the Cost and financial aid tab, it will tell you on average what percent of need that colleges meets. The higher the better.