Michigan State University Top Questions

Find your niche, whether it be academically, socially or through extracurricular activities. When looking for schools, be sure to visit any you are considering attending. In doing this, you get a 'feel' for the campus life. Visit the residence halls to see where you could possibly live the next year. If you have the chance to talk to current students, ask them questions. Talk to professors within your major to see how hands-on and engaging class work is. Check out the schools website to see if there are clubs or groups you would be interested in joining. Weigh the pros and cons of each school, like being far away from home or the availability of your major. After you have chosen the school you want to attend, try out everything you might possibly be interested in, like a campus group. You might end up not liking it, but at least you tried. Take the chance to talk to people you don't know in your dorm or cafeteria to meet new people. You never know until you try!

When you choose a college or university, you should look beyond academic reputation and degree programs offered to the overall environment of the school. Campus visits are essential to learning about the atmosphere in the classroom, the "feel" of student life, and even factors outside of the institution, like weather patterns, job availability in the surrounding area, and the size and character of the adjoining city. You should also take into consideration how far the instutition is from your home and how many times you plan to visit home throughout the year. In order to make the most of your college experience, you need to choose a school where you can get involved in activities that interest you, whether it be volunteering, partying, horseback riding, skiing, or philosophy club, and then find a way to incorporate those activities into your daily life at college, without compromising your academic success. In the end, a successful college experience hinges on finding a school that fits your personality and interests, and then negotiating a balance between class work and personal life.

There are several key factors to take into account when looking into colleges. But one in particular-- one is near and dear to my heart,--is this: one should NOT choose a school based on money. Speaking as someone who chose a school because it felt right, not because it was in my price range (and trust me, it wasn't), it would have been a terrible decision had I gone to one of my lesser choices. My first week at MSU I knew I had chosen right. It felt like home. And I always knew it would feel like home. Having a great experience, being in a place that feels as if it were meant for me is worth the bills, worth the part-time job that my financially well-off friends don't have to have (and thius worth learning to balance not only class, homework and friends, but also work), worth the financial aid forms and the scholarship applications. It is so easy to go to the school that offers the most scholarship money or the lowest tuition, but what good is being in the black if you are unhappy at your school? Choose happiness.

The best way to select the right college for you is by immersing yourself in the community. When visiting, try to imagine what it would be like to live and learn in those buildings. Don?t be afraid to ask advisors and professors questions. Ask them why you should select their school and their academic program. There?s also so many resources available to help you select a school and career path. Take advantage of them. From the moment you enter in as a freshmen, keep a long term perspective on your goals and how those can translate to short terms goals. Allow yourself to have fun because that free time will help you perform better in your classes, instead of using all of your time to study. Don?t compare yourself to other people and don?t let your g.p.a. define who you are. Get involved in activities that you want to get involved in, not just because they will look good on a resume or application. Keep in mind that although your academics need to be your main focus, college is also a great opportunity to define who you are and grow as a person.

My advise to parents and future students would be to go after schools that have a strong program in what you are interested in studying, but at the same time make sure that those schools also have many other programs. Because it is common for students to change their majors while in school. I would also suggest that while in college to either have a part time job or to get involved in activities that interest you. By doing either of these two things helps you out in many ways. First off, it can help you stay focus on what you have to get done, because by only have school work to work on, you are going to waste a lot of your spare time doing nothing, instead of staying focused on your schedule and what you have to get done. Also by doing these extra activities you make a lot of really awesome friends that you wouldn't have otherwise. You also will get the oppurtunities to try knew things and find new interests that you never knew you had. Enjoy college while you are in it, because for most people you only get to do it once.

Visit colleges before you choose one. Also, college is a gateway to a job so get the best grades you can and do things that you can put on a resume. What you do in college will have a lot to do with how many opportunities will be available to you after college. Take up opportunities if they present themselves.

I feel like you first need to know if your child wants to attend a big university or more on the smaller scale. Once this is figured out, I think campus tours are really affective. Campus tours give the child, along with the parents, a sense of what the school is like, on campus and off. I think the best advice, however, would be to tell the child to just make the most of his/her college experience. While I think it could be helpful to know some friends going into a new environment, I think it is more important to go in blind and meet all new people. When a child does this, it teaches them how to step out of their comfort zone and interact with new people. I did this my freshman year and made a whole new set of best friends that I have been best friends with ever since. College is a great opportunity, so I think the overall best advice is to tell children how great of an experience it will be, and see what they do with it.

The school has to fit the student not the parent. make sure you take the kids to the school before they go!

I went to a community college for the first couple years of school, and it was awesome. You can get the same credits for a lot cheaper! Don't be discouraged, save some money.

Make sure you go somewhere you feel comfortable. If you don't get along with the people there, you won't do well. Friends and your social life can be as important as the classes you take. Get involved with activities around campus. Pick a club, to join, stay active, you'll make friends for life. Of course studies are important to. Don't slack off all semester, it's not as easy to cram here as it was in high school. The toughest thing to adjust to when you go to college is studying and being on your own. You don't have any parents to tell you to get to work and your friends, while they want you to succeed, aren't going to make you sit down and get to work. Having said that, possibly the most important thing you learn in college is maturity. You can learn skills on the job but this is the best time to learn how to function on your own while you still have a cushion to fall back on. College is a great experience, it can be a little scary but overall it's great!