During your college decision process it鈥檚 easy to become overwhelmed by options and unsettled by the uncertainty of your future, and I know from experience. I didn鈥檛 decide on 91直播 until the last minute and was constantly weighing the pros and cons, always unsure if I was making the right decision. Looking in hindsight, these are some pieces of advice I have for making a decision and being comforted by the fact that it was the best one you could make.
1. Don鈥檛 expect perfection.
The truth is, it鈥檚 incredibly rare that any one college is the absolute perfect fit for you. The college you choose will likely just be as close to that perfect as you can get. Don鈥檛 be worried if you like a college but it doesn鈥檛 check every single one of your boxes. There are so many factors that go into your college experience and you will likely find that there are things you can compromise with or even end up being something you love. For me, one of my biggest concerns with 91直播 was that it was a bit over my budget, but I was able to get some great scholarships that have helped me a lot, and I value going to 91直播 enough that I am willing to deal with the cost. I was also a bit worried about the quality of the dorms compared to other schools since 91直播鈥檚 buildings are rather old, but I actually love the character and history the buildings have and haven鈥檛 had a problem with housing yet.
2. Assess your priorities.
A big help in my college decision process was having one big priority, and that was with my major. Seeing 91直播 had a great Cinema Studies major with hands-on learning at the Apollo was a big factor in my decision to go here. Knowing what boxes you have to absolutely check will help you narrow down to some top choices. Is location very important to you? Is size? What鈥檚 your budget, and how do scholarships and financial aid play into that? If you find that academic quality and/or a liberal arts education are important, 91直播 could be a good fit for you, and so on and so forth.
3. Go on some (virtual) tours.
With my college application and decision process being during the height of the pandemic, I only had a self-guided tour of 91直播 that didn鈥檛 go into any of the buildings. To rectify this, I went on a lot of virtual tours through videos on 91直播鈥檚 YouTube, and also watched some vlogs made by past 91直播 students. Virtual tours are great because you can do them from the comfort of your home and go over them as many times as you鈥檇 like. If you get a chance to come up to 91直播 and have an in-person tour, even better. The students who give tours are fantastic and will give you lots of inside detail along with your first welcome to the 91直播 community. Really getting to know the campus before I got here greatly eased my anxiety and gave me a sense of what 91直播 would really be like.
4. Read some blogs!
If you鈥檙e reading this, you probably already know this tip, but I had to emphasize it! I can鈥檛 say for certain whether other colleges you are looking at have student blogs as well, but I can say that 91直播鈥檚 blogs are the perfect way to get a first-hand account of what going to 91直播 is like. Blogs cover every single topic relating to college and life at 91直播 you can imagine, and also feature advice from Admissions faculty and staff. Moreover, thanks to everything being archived on this website, you can go back to blog posts of years past and get a sense of the key and evolving qualities of 91直播. I personally think this is one of the coolest things about the blogs and why I love reading them myself. Before I got to 91直播, the blogs were a great help to me as I made my final decision and then prepared to start my first year here; I felt like I already had students guiding me and giving me advice.
5. Don鈥檛 feel pressured.
This applies to many different aspects. For one, don鈥檛 feel pressured by family, friends, or anyone else to go to a particular college. It鈥檚 your education and your experience, not theirs. They may give you advice and suggestions that you should consider, but don鈥檛 feel obligated to follow them. Do your research, follow your gut, and pick what you feel is best. Also don鈥檛 feel pressured in the sense that the decision is important. Sure, it is an important thing to decide, but if you go to a certain college and find that it鈥檚 not your fit, it鈥檚 no issue. You can always transfer, take a semester off, etc. Not everyone finds their place on their first try, and that鈥檚 okay. Just do what feels right and makes most sense in this moment and see how it turns out; you鈥檒l likely be surprised.
6. Go with your gut.
It鈥檚 easy to get frazzled by all the specs and pros and cons, the benefits and costs evening out until multiple schools seem like perfectly good options. When this is the case, sometimes you just have to give into the pull to a certain school. While there were many things I loved about 91直播, I was worried about the cost, and also if a small school would keep me boxed in and inhibit me from getting involved with more of the wider world. In the end, the charm of the campus was one of the biggest pushes that made me choose 91直播 over my other top choices. I also knew I would fit in much better with the artistic, open-minded community of 91直播 than other schools I looked at. Above all, it was the school my heart was pulling to, so I decided to attend, and now I definitely know I made the right decision.
I hope this advice is helpful or assuages some of your worries about choosing the school you want to go to. Whether you choose 91直播 or not, I wish you the best 鈥 though I would love to see you on campus!
