Know Yourself...

So now that you know what to do, it's time for you to take action: get to know yourself! Don't forget that you will be spending the next 4 years of your life in a college or university and you will want to enjoy those 4 years, not spend them moaning every day regretting your choice. You may want to ask your guidance counselor to help you with this task.

Why is Self-Assessment so Important?

Think about what you want out of a college education. Don't feel pressured to answer this question right away because your choice will likely dictate the shape of the college search. But there are certain myths and mistakes that you may want to avoid.

Myths and Mistakes

First of all, don't get so fixated on the notion that the more prestigious a school is, the better quality of education it provides.

“If I've never heard of a college before, it can't be good, right?” 

—Wrong— In fact, this is one of the worst assumptions you can ever make in the admissions process. This mistake alone will cause you to disregard some of the best schools in the United States only because you haven't heard of them.

True, a lot of “branded” schools give excellent academic opportunities, but there are also many other smaller lesser-known schools that produce graduates who end up in promising careers. Kalamazoo and Wabash are probably among the lesser known, or ‘unknown’ schools, yet they are great liberal arts colleges.

Examine Your Activities and Interests

What were you involved in when you were in high school? How often do you participate in playing lacrosse? Do you cut grass, look after younger siblings, pump gas, paint portraits, ride horses, walk the neighborhood dogs, collect antique medicine bottles? The deans of admissions at selective colleges will want to find out what makes you tick, what kind of activities pique your interest and how do you spend your time.

Example questions you can ask yourself:

• What activities do I enjoy most outside of the classroom?
• How would I sacrifice my time to do this activity?
• Will there be time and opportunity for me to continue pursuing this activity when I enter college?
• How important is it that my prospective school provide ample opportunity for me to continue doing these?

Colleges want to know what you do outside of the academic circle! When I asked my college admissions counselor:“Why would the dean want to know if I pumped gas?” She told me that it showed the kind of character and personality I had. Deans and their colleges are very interested to know about an applicant as an individual, not as a set of numbers, grades and test scores. Everything counts.