University of Rhode Island Top Questions

Do your research!!!!!

It?s easy to narrow the college search by necessities such as price and major. Unfortunately, this doesn?t narrow the search quite enough. Since most students have never been away from home, it's difficult to know whether a small urban college or a large in-state university would be better. The best advice I could give students is exactly what they don?t want to hear: listen to your parents. They have been through college and often understand you better than they let on. Parents: listen to your children, even if they are not actually saying anything. Sometimes a child is embarrassed to admit a fear of leaving home, or feels obligated to go into a certain field despite lack of interest. Even if a child tries to hide these feelings, they are real and important. Once you begin school, get involved! Meet people in your dorm, your major, and an organization. Networking is important! Parents, make yourselves available but not invasive; your child graduated from high school and made it into college, and needs to mature into an adult. Don?t worry, on breaks you will be cleaning and feeding your child like he/she never left!

Make sure you can afford it.

I would advise students to visit as many schools as possible that have programs that they are interested in. I would schedule time to talk to admissions, financial aid and have a student-led tour of the campus. Think carefully about whether you want a large school, which may have very large classes, or a school which is smaller and more personal. Think about how far from home you REALLY want to be. Be careful not to "cut off your nose to spite your face" by not doing early admission if a school is high on your list. Good Luck!

Choose your school on how comfortable you feel there and how much you enjoy the enviroment. Then worry about if it has the right majors. You may be interested in one field but once you start studying the material, your opinion may change. Just make sure you are happy.

Get Involved!!!!!

Finding the right college for me was very difficult. At first I thought I wanted to be in a small school with small classrooms. I tried that out for a year and realized it wasn't what i wanted after all. I didn't look into all of my options at first, but it was time to make a smart decision. I found that larger schools have smaller classrooms, and maybe that was good for me. I would advise anyone looking for a school to search every possibility at each school and really think about what you want. You need to think about location, size, your learning habbits, what you can handle, and even more! This is not a decision you want to mess up. This is your future. It is important to weigh your options and know that you are making the best choice for you. Exploring your options only opens up new doors. Don't jump the gun and chose a school because of a major, or because a friend likes it there; everyone is different. You may find that what you thought you wanted is completely different from what you actually end up excelling in.

Most people tell me, "Find a school where you feel most comfortable in; you'll just know it when it feels right." To be quite frank, this statement is somewhat neutral. Honestly, I haven't been to my school's tour/information sessions. I was aware of URI since I already have spent most of my summers in Newport, RI but never really had the time to go to the tour/information sessions. The campus look shouldn't be the most important factor in determing a decision upon your school of choice. Yes, you will be living there, however, you are there to educate yourself and to make the most of your studies. I did however browse through the school's website to get more information of what I needed in order to fill some of my questions that weren't answered. Once I stepped foot at URI on my first day of school, I knew this was the right school for me, even without visiting it. Some people beg to differ my opinion, but this was the way I found myself to be successful and saved time and money upon deciding on your school.

I suggest that both students and parents do more outside research about the schools other than just the tours and what is prepared for them. Go to some of the activities, find a time to visit one of the games, talk to students in several different majors but especially the majors that you are pursuing. That should give a better idea of what you will be walking into as opposed to the scripted accolades that are given to prospective students. Also, don't do your interviews with your parents. Go out on your own to ask around. Go into the coffee houses and some of the larger hang out areas to find an array of students.

To find the right college a student should never go somewhere just because their boyfriend/girlfriend or friends are going there. College visits are always helpful, but the internet is just as good. Looking at all sorts of colleges allows a student to get a good idea of what kind of school they want to go to. Making the most of the college experience is easy, go to class, make friends, and have fun...but dont forget about homework!