A college degree can ideally open doors to better job opportunities and higher salaries. Today there are many jobs that require candidates to have at least a bachelor’s degree. As Harit Gaba underlines, selecting the right college can help students to gain quality higher education and help them to achieve professional goals that ensure their long-term success.
Harit Gaba underlines a few important steps involved in choosing the right colleges
Ideally, students should apply to about four to ten colleges, depending on their application fee budget. They might divide colleges into categories like “target,” and “safety” to make sure that they are submitting applications to a balanced mix of institutions. However, this being said, there are also many students who have a very good sense of the college or university they want to attend, and do not feel compelled to apply to several institutions. Instead of spending application fees at colleges, they don’t really want to attend, these students prefer to keep their application pool small.
Regardless of exactly how many college applications one plans to fill up, it is not always easy to decide on a college to apply to or attend. To make the right choice, it would be a good idea for the students to follow these steps:
- Step 1: Make a college list: High school seniors need to sit down with their parents/guardians, or even a school guidance counselor, to prepare a list of colleges that actually interest them. The list may include both public and private colleges, both local and out-of-state. A student needs to think about varied outcomes and experiences before creating the list. The list should typically include about 10-15 colleges, and all of them must offer majors that align with the interests and professional goals of the student.
- Step 2: Rank needs and wants: Knowing what exactly a student wants and needs from their college experience can help shorten the initial list of colleges. For instance, some students may want a college with a large student body and plenty of campus activities, while there might be others who need a more intimate campus with a liberal arts background.
- Step 3: Visit college campuses: The internet is a great resource for researching colleges and universities, exploring varied degree programs, and getting to know the staff and faculty of varied institutions. However, simply checking out the college website is not the same as actually visiting the campus in person. By physically visiting the college campuses, students can get a better feel of their culture, browse on-campus housing, ask questions to the students already studying there, and so on. This would help students to understand whether they can actually picture themselves as a part of a specific college.
- Step 4: Compare financial aid offers: After applying to the colleges on the shortlist, students have to wait for acceptance letters and financial aid award letters to arrive. If one is aiming to graduate with little to no debt, a higher financial aid package could be the determining factor that helps them to select the right college. By comparing financial aid award letters and annual costs, they can get a clearer sense of the true out-of-pocket costs involved.
As per Harit Gaba, subsequent to completing the steps mentioned above, students should properly compare the pros and cons of each college and see which one best meets their criteria. Gaba is a dynamic and accomplished director overseeing multiple private colleges.
