University of Missouri-Columbia Top Questions

Visiting the college is the only way to understand the feel of the campus. The way people interact with each other, the way they dress, and how happy they are are all important qualities to new students. Once you get there, remember the great qualities you saw on your visit, and don't take them for granted. Remember really liking the dining hall where you ate during the tour? Go there for lunch sometimes with your high school friends to stay in touch. Were you really impressed with the athletic facilities? Don't forget all the special features your tour guide told you about. And at the beginning of every school year, the campus and each dorm offer all kinds of activities for new students to meet each other. This may feel silly, but it really does work. Be willing to try new things and meet new people; they could become really important for the rest of your life.

Make sure you do your research, and definitely visit the college. Visiting the college is crucial, so try to visit more than once in various times of the year. This will help you get a real life feel for the campus that no flyer could tell you. It is important to keep in mind your child's major, and also any other majors they might possibly be interested in, and focus on those areas of the college when you visit. If they are a business major, don't get carried away by the science research facilities if the business college doesn't inspire as much interest. Also, try to get in touch with students in your child's field of study to talk about the specifics of the courses offered and classroom structure. To make the most of college, definitely get involved, but limit your involvement to one or two organizations that really interest you. Don't let your studies fall behind because of over-involvement. I would definitely recommend living in the dorms to get to know other students. Many colleges separate dorms according to interest groups, which helps iting to know people. And most importantly, enjoy it all!

My advice is directed to high school students who are considering playing college sports. First, choose the college based on academics and your personal goals for after college. Many student-athletes find themselves in a major that their coach picked for them because it is easy and does not conflict with practices and games. Yet, most athletes do not go professional so after four years playing in college, they graduate with a useless degree without any job prospects. Especially for women in sports, we are not going to make the millions of dollars men do playing in the MLB or NFL, so we need to work hard academically in order to succeed after graduation. In addition, my experience playing on a college softball team was that many of my teammates were not happy and not enjoying college. They simply stuck around for the scholarship. My advice is if you are not happy, the scholarship is not a reason to stay on the team. For the amount of hours you put into the team, you can get a job that will pay enough for you to pay for school. You only get one college experience, make the most of it!

My advice to students is to actually search for a college, which includes campus visits. Don't wait on your parents, teachers, or counselors to do it for you. While yet in high school or even grade school, find something that you?re really passion about and go with it. Find that school that comes close or does meet YOUR requirements and apply. Don't worry about how much tuition is. Always remember: what better to invest in than yourself, your own future. After getting into college, you must give it your all. Work hard and truly allow yourself to experience the college life. Get involved in organizations. College is networking. Most times it's not about what you know, it's who you know. As for the parents, I would say, just supported your child. It makes a big difference, socially and academically, when they know you?ve got their back! Sometimes parents already have a vision of what school that child will go to and what will be their major, but if you look inside your son or daughter you'll see that they have dreams of their own. Help them make those dreams and goals a reality.

I would tell parents to be understanding because choosing a college can be very stressful. I would also encourage parents not to try to push their kids to go to the school they went to if their kid doesn't want to. College is all about making decisions and discovering things on your own, and this is so much more enjoyable if you're at the college you want to be at. I would tell students who are trying to find the right college to do some research. Make a list of what you want out of your college and be sure that it's going to be able to offer you all of these things. Talk to other students who go there, not just people who work for the college because of course they're going to make it sound great. The best thing you can do is ask questions. My advice to making the most of your college experience is to get involved. The more involed you are, the more people you'll meet and the more fun times you'll have. I feel like you can have fun at any college if you're involved.

Start looking early and plan ahead.

I would tell students to visit all the colleges they wanted to visit and see if they would fit in well with the people that attend that college i would also tell them to do the research on the school as well so that they can see what the school is all about. feelinf relaxed at a college can make a huge difference on alot of factors at college.

The most important thing when choosing the college that is right for you or your child is to look for a place where you can be comfortable and learn as much as possible. It is important to learn lessons both in the classroom and out of it, so it is good to look for a place where you can get a good education, as well as live in a good environment. Attending a school that is going to cause you to be stressed out all the time is not the purpose of college, but it is also important to find a place where you will learn as much as possible about your chosen field so that you can have a successful career upon graduation. The most important thing is to look for a place where you will be able to learn and be happy. Both of those qualities are necessary for a fulfiling college experience. There is more to college than just books and tests, but only having a good time will not prepare a student enough for a successful career. The key is to find balance.

When looking for the right college it is really important that students take into account their needs. If a student feels comfortable on a small campus he should concentrate on the campus's size and student body. If a student wants to participate in extracurricular activities, he or she should concentrate on what the campus has to offer. If the student is worried about the cost he should concentrate on financial aid opportunites and tuition. Decisions like this will really help a student find a school that he or she will feel comfortable at, and that is important because if a student is uncomfortable he will not do well in school. Parents should concentrate on all of these things as well, but most importantly they should listen to what their children want, and they should support their children's decisions. That is the most helpful thing a parent can do in this situation, and it will make the whole application process much easier and much more satisfying.

Don't always believe everything the tour tells you. Stray away from the beaten path and ask actual students about things. For the most part students are pretty helpful, if it's not in the middle of a test week and everyone is stressed out. Also, make sure you're happy with the way the campus is layed, as well as the quality of your major's building, because you will be spending a lot of time there.