University of South Dakota Top Questions

My advice to parents and future college students in finding the perfect college would be to go on numerous campus visits, even to colleges you aren't interested in. Get a feel of what each college offers and what you like or dislike about each one. Also ask the future student how distant they want to become from home. This will be a huge deciding factor on the location of the college they will choose. To make the best of the college experience you can not be afraid to be yourself. If you pretended to be someone in high school, you no longer have to because you are starting fresh, so ebrace the opprotunity to become the person you want to be. Also GET INVOLVED! Getting involved not only arrises opprotunities but it also allows you to meet a lot of diverse people. Finally, do stuff that you normally wouldn't find yourself doing. You'll be suprised at the joy you find in spontineity. Most importantly...you're only young once so make the most of it and enjoy life!

Visit a campus and choose the college where you feel immediately comfortable with the people (students, professors, staff). The people you are around can make or break your college experience regardless of the programs available and the academic reputation of the institution.

I really encourage all students to go tour as many schools as possible-the school that feels the most like "home" to you will be the best for you. Do your research, talk to students on the campus, know your facts. Getting a good education and having a good college experience is more than just the school-or academics, its where you feel comfortable and where you think you can be happiest and most involved College is the BEST time of your life-why waste it somewhere where you're not happy and a college education is more than classes, books, and papers--its a real world experience, its the opportunities you have presented to you and made avalable to you--and then taking advantage of them! so know where you want to go, go where you feel comfortalbe, and make the most of the best 4 years (or more) of your life!

The most important thing to do when choosing a college is to visit the campus. Nothing else is as helpful because the visit allows you to get the feel of the college and all of its components. When a student visits the college campus, they need to talk with current students, meet with a faculty member from their academic interest, and of course, get a tour of the campus. To make the most of the college experience, I would first tell the student to not go home in at least the first month of school; they need to create their own routine and learn to go outside of their comfort zone and make new friends. Students need to also make sure that they do not hole themselves up in their dorm room. Enjoy the first few days of school without classes: take part in the orientation events, (even as dorky as they may seem), meet new people, and just have fun. New students need to remember the college experience is what you make of it and that after a few weeks, it will be hard to imagine not every being in college!

Choose a school that has many options for a major, so if you change you mind about what you would like to do, you don't have to change your school. Be ready for the culture shock that might occur if you pick a school drastically smaller of larger than your hometown.

I would advise students looking at college to look equally at academic and social programs at their potential schools. I am glad that I attended a University with a quality educational system that awarded me with a Bachelors degree that I feel confident displaying. That being said, higher education offers a social catalyst unique to living the fully immersed college life. Finding this balance is important to ensuring that you will make the most of your college career. It would be wise for students to come into their college of choice with an understanding of what they are willing to compromise. For example, it may be necessary to compromise that whim-of-a-major that you chose because it sounds cool. There are some things that should not be compromised, though. It can be easy to get caught up in the ?college dream? thinking that when you go to college you should lead a certain path in order to become the stereotypical college kid. Unfortunately, this doesn?t always promise a life of progress?just a life of progressing with the crowd. Know your morals, your absolutes, and allow the experience as a whole to refine the rest of you.

go with what feels comfortable... don't decided on who will give you the most money

Get involved with on campus activites, and when it comes to picking out the right college make sure to ask questions when you are on campus for a visit.

Go somewhere where you know you'll be comfortable. You won't like it if it's not you. Also, try to get really involved on campus and meet new people. I'm personally in a sorority, and I wouldn't have half the friends I do now if I hadn't joined. That also helped me come out of my shell and it forced me to get to know more people, which became some of my best friends. Joining groups on campus gives you better scholorship opportunities also, so you would want to apply for all of those that you can. One thing you don't want to have to worry about is paying for school while you're studying and trying to maintain a good GPA. Along the lines of GPA, study hard your freshman year! How you do your freshman year effects the rest of your college career. Once your GPA drops it's hard to raise it again. So my best words of advice are have fun and study hard, since that's what you're there to do anyway!

My first advice is to visit the college campus before deciding. For me, I found that I knew right away after a tour, if that college was for me. Make sure you have thought about what you are looking for in a college, such as wanting a large library to tuition, because these points can help break a tie between colleges. Try not to be stressed about getting every dorm item before school, because like many college experiences, you won't know what is necessary until you are there! Same goes with joining clubs, take your time figuring out your classes work load before you jump into extra activities. There is plenty of opportunity to join clubs all throughout the year. Finally, if you are living on campus, try to get along with your roommate because for me haveing a strong bond really helps when it comes to studying or doing campus activities.