Bates College Top Questions

My first advice would be to think about the environment the student wants to live in for the next four years. In order to be productive and excited about learning we must like our surroundings. Choose a school in the area of the country that you want to live and that offers to type of schooling you are searching for. Liberal arts colleges are a great way to go if you have some uncertainty about what you wish to study. They offer a well rounded education with an opportunity to study one or two subjects in depth and touch the surface of numerous other subjects. Do not choose a college away from home simply because you want to "get away." It is great to travel and some students do quite well thounsands of miles from home, but there is something special about getting an education near where you grew up. I stayed in Maine and if given the opportunity again I would make the same choice. Look at options close to home as well as far away and choose what bests suits you based on the environment and the type of education offered.

Don't be overly swayed by college branding. While name recognition may help in the post-graduate years, being at the school that suits you will ensure a better experience and more sound investment. Go to the college/university that will allow you to really spread your wings academically because it's one of the few instances in life where you have a lot of freedom to learn things that life situations may prevent as you age. While there, expose yourself to as many new things as possible, because the effects of those experieinces will be felt for many years later.

Find what works best for you.

Enjoy the experience. It only happends once for students. Once you get past all the paperwork, it'e the experience that's going to stay with you. Imagine yourself at the college. The questions should be: will the college meet your needs? Could you see yourself there? Will you still love the college on your worst day? It's a gut feeling.

The advice that I give to all parents and students is simple. College is a place for kids to grow up as an adult and mature as a person. The place in which the child attends needs to be a place where they feel comfortable; the school must trigger something in their mind that says, "hey, this is the right place for me." There are many factors that go into the college search process, but the one major factor that many people overlook is if the school feels right or not. Allow the child to choose both the region and size of their school. Although the parents are most likely going to be paying for college, it is the child that will be attending the school for four years, not the parents. Just because certain things are the way they are on a particular campuses, and certain things might not impress or please the parents, does not mean that this isn't the right school for their child. Choosing a school is purely a gut feeling, and if the school "feels right," then most likely that is the institution that he or she should be attending. Good luck!

Do an overnight stay at whatever school(s) you are seriously considering. Once there, get involved in activities!!

Dont get hung up over which school is best for you. Instead, be honored that you have acheived the oppurtunity to make the judgement in the first place. By no means should you take this task lightly, however, always remeber, Your choices are half chance.....So are everybody elses.

Stay over at the college to determine if it is the right pick for you.

Be open to discovering what you are interested in college. Don't go in there knowing what you want to do.