Brandeis University Top Questions

Location, location, locatin!!

The motto for orientation my freshman year, was there are no wrong turns. I thought about this statement over the course of the four years that I attended Brandeis University and it has held true. No matter what decision I made it always seemed to be the right one for me. I picked both of my majors on a whim, I did things I was interested in such as creative writing. And I made sure that I had time to have a social life, and a job and still be able to get my work done. My word of advice would be balance. It is one of the best times of your life, so don't spend it in the library. Get out there and learn from experience! Make sure to take care of yourself as well because that is always the most important. There is no decision that you make that cannot be reversed, just like the motto "No Wrong Turns". And I graduated with a core group of friends, great fellowship and job and with many connections to a great university that I go back to every chance I get.

Think carefully about what you are looking for in a college. The size and diversity of the student body are both important factors to consider. Decide if you would rather be at a school with many students who are just like you or in a school whose population runs across a wide spectrum. Think about whether you are interested in having a multitude of extra-curricular activities to choose from and get involved in or if you would rather let other people plan everything for you. Make sure you are comfortable with the school's climate - some universities are located in places where it always rains or never snows. This may seem trivial but you will be spending four years there so you want to be comfortable. Once you have figured out many of the things you want in a school, go visit and spend time at each of your top choices. Meet lots of people and listen to what they have to say about their classes, activities, and the social scene on campus. If possible, sit in on some lectures or try to get an idea of what the professors are like in your department of interest. Good luck!

Take the time to figure out what five or ten of your top priorities are, and closely examine colleges to see if they're able to deliver. It's silly to look at only academic components of a school, or only the social life, and so forth. It's crucial to consider whether or not your personality fits with the overall vibe of the school. If at all possible, visit the campus and schedule an interview! Remember that your decision to accept admission is just as crucial as a university's decision to accept you.

To take all aspects of the school into consideration - location, academics, size of school , types of students, majors offered. To think about their high school experience and think about what they did and did not like and then try to find a school that will be thesame or different in those ways. Try to get involved as much as you would like and remember that the people you meet are a big part of your experience so be open to different types of people and then settle with those who you feel most comfortable with and who will be there for you.

Visit the school before making a decision, do as much research as you possibly can, and not simply through the colleges' marketing or tour guides, but looking at internet forums, facebook groups, and other social networking resources.

One must take time to visit the institution before making a decision to attend it. There is no way of knowing the quality of life-style, academics, social-life, and needs provided by the institution without visiting the institution. I have seen many students regreting their attending of Brandeis University because they did not take the time to visit, and the social-life on campus among the students was not they expected.

Don't have a first choice - have a group - you shouldn't be too set of one school - more than one might work for you.

FOR STUDENTS: Visiting a college is the best way to assess how it fits one's needs. The guidebooks and statistics are nice, but the "feeling" of being on campus is more telling than anything else. In addition, don't take the advice of two or three students as authoritative. Different students at a school will have different viewpoints, and one student will not be representative of campus' student body. Also, if you know for sure what field you plan to go into, sit in that department's classes. See if it feels right. Talk to those professors. They are knowledgable and will speak honestly about how they feel about their repective departments. Do not go to a college because a friend will be attending. The people you associate with upon graduation will most likely not be the same people that you hung out with during Freshman year. FOR PARENTS: Despite what they say, many students are not sure of what they want. Make your your prospective student visits a variety of colleges, of all types, until they can get a feel for what type of school seems best.

The most important part about selecting a college is visiting the school without a parent and staying overnight for at least two nights-- one on a weekend, and one during the week. By shadowing a student through a typical day of classes and then through the night activities, a potential student can get a feeling for several crucial factors of campus life: what the classes are like, how professors and students interact, what the typical workload is, dorm living, campus accessibility, and social factors. Also, it is important to have an idea of the path of study-- for example, I applied to Brandeis as an Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Major, but then decided to switch to Music and Education majors instead, and those programs are not as strong at Brandeis as at other schools. It is also important to note that if one plans to attend graduate school, the institution of undergraduate education should match the academic stature of the graduate university. Overall, a student needs to be happy socially at their college, because it will be impossible to succeed academically if one is not satisfied socially.