Question about college/university?

Now it also depends on which type of major you wanna be in. Most schools are only good at a certain type of majors. Example: University of Washington has a top 5 medical school, top 5 computer science department, but not even top 100 in Fine Art. Like Havard is a great school but they also got departments that are outside of top 100.

Now also look into your college life. You wanna go to a school with more balanced crowd, for example, MIT, Cal tech are not a good choice in that regards, and in a city where you wanna live for four years as well, Cornell is not good coz it’s completely isolated.

So pick a major, at least the type of majors, like Natural Science, Engineering, Medical, Business, Law, Liberal Arts, Music, Social Science…

Now pick a few cities you wanna live in… San Diego? Boston? NYC? Seattle? Dallas? Austin? Atlanta?

Then look into which schools are good at those majors in those cities and start applying.

First, start taking some skill assessment tests ASAP. Your guidance counselor’s office should have them. These are tests that help you determine what kind of career is a good pick for you.

Even if you believe you want to be a veterinarian, for example, the tests will tell you whether you might actually like it/dislike it on a day-to-day basis.

Ask someone to give you other tests like ‘Meyers-Briggs’, for example. You can learn a lot about yourself with these tools.

Next: in your summer months, place yourself as an intern, somewhere that you can learn more about the field you *think* you want to work in. You don’t need to spend your whole summer at one of these internships but showing that you took initiative, and gained job experience on your own, looks great on a resume.

You should also look for opportunities to travel or volunteer. In general, do anything to gain experience. Go on a few “informational interviews”: this is where you contact a potential future employer and ask them if you can come to their job site and have someone show you around. It’s always looked on with respect and they will remember you later when you apply ‘for real’. Great networking technique. Plus you will gain experience in an interview setting, and learn more about what your ‘dream career’ really is like.

Next:: remember that many people change their major a few times when they enter college. Don’t try to nail everything down before you even start out–because your ideas about what you want to do are bound to change once you begin.

College is a time when your ideas about *everything* will alter–don’t stick to a rigid plan, be prepared to adapt!

For example, you may THINK you can handle dorm life, but when you try it for real, it may not be for you.

Back to my main point: if you’re headed towards college and you’re NOT going to try for law or medicine, it isn’t particularly important what you get your undergrad degree in. Few people realize this. You should just choose a major you can have fun with, one which you can excel at, and one which gives you grounding in analysis & research and formal thinking.

Choosing a school: weigh other factors like cost-of-living, tuition, commuting, dorm living vs off-campus living, scholarships, faculty, and program choices. This is all important stuff *in addition* to the school’s academic reputation. Read up on each college you’re considering at Barnes& Nobel’s, there are big reference books on this topic and they have current, up-to-date info.

But the bottom line in choosing a school is this: choose an inexpensive school for your undergrad degree. I can’t stress this enough. There is no reason to go to a super-pricey college for your B.A. or B.S. Choose an expensive school, a school that has “name power” ONLY for your graduate degree. Employers care about what school you attend for your master’s; but not so much for your undergrad. An undergrad degree –well, that’s really just the start of a college education.

Good luck!

i would say shoot for a school a bit higher than usual but don’t sell yourself short just go for a good school that has everything you need