Welcome to GreenDean’s Den & Atlas, a hidden trove of life lessons, tips, and stories. Our postings are for anyone interested in the “Whys” and “Hows” behind the “Whats.
Just like the god Atlas of ancient Greek mythology, we hope to provide content that can take the weight of the world off of your shoulders.
Please keep comments and replies polite so we can expand our own horizons, not limit others.
Choosing a college:
Key facts to remember before, during, and after the search
Every year a new batch of young adults are thrown off the diving board and dunked into the complex and overwhelming world revolving around college selection. For months they will be bombarded with email blasts hailing from nearby community colleges to international behemoths. Instead of spending one of their final summers in high school enjoying a relatively carefree life, many students will be fretting over entrance exams and agonizing over locational preferences. This event is stressful, perhaps rightfully so. Next to picking a spouse, choosing where to go to college and what to major in might be the biggest decision of a person’s life, to have to make it at the age of 18 only adds pressure. Have no fear though! The following 3 tips should help reinforce some of the things that should be focused on.
1. Prioritize your happiness and needs:
Remember, though relatives and friends may try to lead you towards one direction, ultimately it is your inner compass that you should listen to when it comes to deciding which school is the best fit. You will be spending the next four years of your life on and around this campus, it isn’t worth hating every moment of it just to keep someone else satisfied.
At the same time though, don’t pick a school simply off which campus has the best bars or most attractive students. The end goal of going through more schooling is to get educated in a field that can elevate your future standard of living, so have a good time, but not too good of a time.
2. Know the true meaning of a dollar, and how to pay it back:
Most college graduates exit school with more than just a diploma. The average students also departs college with approximately $30,000 in student loan debt to go along with their coveted piece of paper1. While this type of burden is common, it still doesn’t make managing it any easier. Debt of this size is enough to delay major life milestones like buying a house, forming a family, and saving for retirement. Even worse, looming debt payments can force young adults into careers where their happiness suffers. To prevent this from happening, future collegians should start to plan as early as possible for how they can manage the investment in their education. Apply for as many scholarships as possible, work a part time job to help pay for tuition, and always be mindful of the price tag of your dream school. Your future self will thank you!
3. Believe in yourself:
It’s easy to get caught up in all the different rankings that schools boast about, but recent studies indicate that maybe prestige isn’t the best indicator of future success. In her book, It’s the Student, Not the College, Kristin White debunks the myth that achievement after school is directly correlated with where the student went to school. For instance, she explains a study that discovered that students who were accepted into Ivy League colleges, but instead chose to go to less acclaimed state universities, reported nearly identical salary and similar satisfaction than their Ivy League counterparts. This finding and others clearly show that while it is nice to enroll at a top university, what matters more is your inner drive and will to succeed. If you believe in yourself and stay focused on your top goals, no one will be able to stand in your way, whether you end up going to Yale College, or Kale Community College.
College is a place where students become the adults that they will be for the rest of their lives, make sure that adult is someone that you can be glad to greet every morning in the mirror.
Any tips we missed? What did we get wrong? Have any suggestions for future articles?
Feel free to comment below to let us know!
Citations
1 http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/11/13/average-student-loan-debt-hits-30-000
2 https://www.amazon.com/Its-Student-Not-College-School_Without/dp/1615192379