Tips for Finding a College

According to collegeboard.com by the end of the summer juniors should be able to narrow their choices to five to eight colleges. Seniors have already experienced this, and have advice to juniors to make the process easier for them.

Senior Liz Beville advises “Juniors should start going on visits to different schools and looking at what you want to major in.” Beville says she had an idea about where she wanted to go but she looked at other schools in case she didn’t get into her first choice.

Senior Katie Daly said “ I know a lot of people who visit schools but I waited until I got my SAT scores then I looked at colleges because some people aim too high, then they get their SAT scores back and have to change their minds.” Counselors helped Daly with technical stuff, such as wording things on the applications and sending out all the paper work. Daly suggests starting to think about colleges. If you have no clue to as what you want to be keep looking at colleges, each college is known for certain things.

Senior Dylan Lobdell, said “Juniors should be going on collegeboard.com so you can see your major and what colleges have it.”

Senior Samantha Hassett agrees with Lobdell. She said “juniors should be going on tours and visiting campuses to find the best package that their major is in and make sure you like the college community.”

Tyler Petersen, a senior at J-DHS says, “Counselors helped with applications by making sure you did everything properly. They are great people to go to and are always there to help.”
Petersen is going to Le Moyne College next year because he says “it offers an excellent education program and it’s close to home.” Petersen says juniors should begin working on applications on FastWeb.com because it matches you up with scholarships. Get your applications in as soon as possible because the sooner you get them in the sooner you will hear back from the colleges. This way you have more time to make decisions.

Petersen got his applications in around October and heard from the colleges in January, which he said was plenty of time to make a decision.

For many juniors figuring out where they will be going is a challenge but guidance counselors can help you out. They can help because they know juniors and their talents well and are aware of their interests. They also have had a lot of experience with helping students find the right colleges.

Senior Samantha Sollars, said “Once you pick out a college the counselors you help with your application but finding a college is really just your choice.”

Guidance counselor Marra Piazza explains some of the steps to follow to figure out what college is right for you, “Do college visits to see if you like the feel of small vs. large colleges and to find the right fit, and go on collegeboard.com to find colleges which can narrow [your search] down by major, location and cost,” said Mrs. Piazza. Denise Becher, another guidance counselor at J-DHS said, “Visiting colleges is huge. When you visit a campus you know if you like it or not almost right away. Even make a second visit if you like it.”

If you don’t know what your major is yet, Mrs. Piazza recommends going to a school with a broad range of majors Ms. Becher also says you should talk to your older siblings, parents, and parent’s friends about majors that you could be interested in and about finding good colleges.