Salem College Top Questions

Visit each college and plan ahead

When looking for the best possible college experience for yourself it is important to look at yourself and figure out who you are and who you want to be. The latter is the most important. If you know that, you'll know what size school that will be best for you, you'll know the best location for your college experience, you'll know the kind of notoriety you want your school to have. And it's also important to realize that you may not know who you want to be. In that case, it's best to look for a school that will foster many different ideas and career paths in you. Once you get there, it's important to get involved so you can make yourself a well-rounded, well-informed person. Get to know the professors and get involved in your campus life. If you have a hand in what's going on, you can help make it the best experience possible for you. Get to know the upperclassmen, but more importantly, make friends with people in your class. Make friends, make memories, make connections.

Visit the campuses, try to start saving early, and dont take too much out in loans.

Make sure you give yourself time to research all options and weigh every factor you can think of including financial aid, housing, location, accredidation, social life, academics, post graduate opportunitites, etc to make sure that the college you choose is indeed the right one for you. Talk to alumni and current students to get an idea of what you will see in order to avoid the often sugar coated admissions facts. I encourage you to visit as many as possible and sit in on classes, visit the dining hall, and just simulate yourself at the particular college or university as much as possible. Most importantly, think of what you really want to get out of this experience and really try to make sure that this college is right for YOU. It's easy to get caught up in where your friends are going, what your parents want, or even the popular schools but it's important not to lose sight of that fact that YOU are the one who has to spend the next couple of years of your life here and you want to be happy with your decision!

Use your best judgement, when your looking for a school make sure you look in to everything, every little detail. Make sure you tour the school and that is the right fit for you. When you get to school make sure you don't hide out in your room. Get out there and socialize with your fellow classmates, and get involved in anything you can.