4 answers
Kayla
Student
Cumming, Georgia
1
Question
Asked
657 views
How does the college experience compare to stereotypes and would you recommend taking a shot on your college choice, or playing it safe?
I'm a highschool senior still deciding on my college and major. I have several options and have to decide between a more dream career or realistic one.
4 answers
Doc Frick
Career Coach and Mentor
1877
Answers
California, CA
Updated
Doc’s Answer
Kayla by the end of junior year, you should have 8 to 10 colleges under consideration. This allows for some flexibility in your choice of major, career plans, and potential financial aid or scholarship options.
• TWO "SAFETY" COLLEGES
Institutions with flexible admission standards are often treated as "safety" colleges. This term refers to colleges whose requirements mean little chance of rejection on your application. Most students apply to just one safety, but you could opt for an academic safety and a financial safety also.
• FOUR-SIX "MATCH" COLLEGES
A "match" college is one that you feel will fulfill your needs and desires; one that you could happily attend, even though it may not be the first choice. This university should fit the general admission criteria in academic and social arenas. A good rule of thumb is to have four to six probable colleges under consideration.
• TWO "REACH" COLLEGES
These are the top choices, but ones that are less likely to accepted to. This may be because the your qualifications match or fall just slightly short of the college's average, and the competition for the limited places in the freshman class is intense. You should have two colleges in this category.
TALK WITH YOUR GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
Your high school guidance counselor can offer advice on which colleges might be a target school or a reach school for you. Counselors also have great tips for completing applications more efficiently.
• KEEP TRACK OF YOUR APPLICATIONS
Completing college applications can be time-consuming and stressful. Creating a calendar to track deadlines and manage steps like requesting recommendation letters makes it easier to stay on top of applications.
• RECYCLING YOUR COLLEGE ESSAYS
Applying to 10 schools might mean writing 10 college application essays. Because many schools use similar prompts, applicants can often reuse or recycle their essays. That said, proceed with caution. You want to customize each essay so that it fully answers the prompt. If it’s obvious to admissions advisors that you’re recycling an old essay, it could hurt your application.
• EARLY DECISION OR EARLY ACTION
Many schools accept early applications. These have earlier application deadlines than regular decision but provide you with a decision sooner, usually by December. Applying early decision or early action can increase your chances of admission. Additionally, if you’re accepted, you might only have to complete a single college application.
CONCLUSION
Always check a university’s website for the specifics—and pay attention to how a university will recalculate your GPA based on their unique scale. What your high school calculates may differ considerably from how a university does the math.
Hope this will be helpful Kayla
• TWO "SAFETY" COLLEGES
Institutions with flexible admission standards are often treated as "safety" colleges. This term refers to colleges whose requirements mean little chance of rejection on your application. Most students apply to just one safety, but you could opt for an academic safety and a financial safety also.
• FOUR-SIX "MATCH" COLLEGES
A "match" college is one that you feel will fulfill your needs and desires; one that you could happily attend, even though it may not be the first choice. This university should fit the general admission criteria in academic and social arenas. A good rule of thumb is to have four to six probable colleges under consideration.
• TWO "REACH" COLLEGES
These are the top choices, but ones that are less likely to accepted to. This may be because the your qualifications match or fall just slightly short of the college's average, and the competition for the limited places in the freshman class is intense. You should have two colleges in this category.
TALK WITH YOUR GUIDANCE COUNSELOR
Your high school guidance counselor can offer advice on which colleges might be a target school or a reach school for you. Counselors also have great tips for completing applications more efficiently.
• KEEP TRACK OF YOUR APPLICATIONS
Completing college applications can be time-consuming and stressful. Creating a calendar to track deadlines and manage steps like requesting recommendation letters makes it easier to stay on top of applications.
• RECYCLING YOUR COLLEGE ESSAYS
Applying to 10 schools might mean writing 10 college application essays. Because many schools use similar prompts, applicants can often reuse or recycle their essays. That said, proceed with caution. You want to customize each essay so that it fully answers the prompt. If it’s obvious to admissions advisors that you’re recycling an old essay, it could hurt your application.
• EARLY DECISION OR EARLY ACTION
Many schools accept early applications. These have earlier application deadlines than regular decision but provide you with a decision sooner, usually by December. Applying early decision or early action can increase your chances of admission. Additionally, if you’re accepted, you might only have to complete a single college application.
CONCLUSION
Always check a university’s website for the specifics—and pay attention to how a university will recalculate your GPA based on their unique scale. What your high school calculates may differ considerably from how a university does the math.
Hope this will be helpful Kayla
Ce Ji
55
Answers
Orlando, Florida
Updated
Ce’s Answer
Hey Kayla, Think of college as your own coloring book, not just a plain black and white one like people often say! My tip for you: be brave like an explorer, but make sure you stay safe too. It's better to learn how to choose wisely than to always try to make the "right" choice. You're already ahead by thinking about this now, instead of just going along with what everyone else does!
Michelle M.
Actress
2527
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Kayla !
So, you have this dream career and everyone is telling you it's not practical. What is the dream career you're speaking of ? True, there are generalizations about certain careers, but college is there for learning how to achieve your dream career, so I encourage you to follow through with what you love. People always are able to find an income job while pursuing a career that relies on auditions and being chosen. But college, if you major in your dream subject, is going to teach you how to obtain work.
It's ironic. When I took a month off between graduation and relocating to Los Angeles for my career, I was in my home state and people were always implying, "What king of job are you going to get with a Bachelors in Theatre ?" I know the people saying that were clueless about the career so it didn't bother me, but again, as you've mentioned, based on the stereotype of acting and theatre being unstable or iffy. It ended up that my first job out of college was a non-acting career job at a professional theatre complex in Los Angeles. So don't let anyone discourage you. They are not familiar with your career interest, so they just go by the generalized and stereotypical ideas about it. But any career can be real. College will teach you how to make it real and you'll be prepared.
A "dream" career is still a career. It's a dream right now because you love it ! Go for the career you love and don't let anyone make you feel wrong about it. Best wishes in all you do !
So, you have this dream career and everyone is telling you it's not practical. What is the dream career you're speaking of ? True, there are generalizations about certain careers, but college is there for learning how to achieve your dream career, so I encourage you to follow through with what you love. People always are able to find an income job while pursuing a career that relies on auditions and being chosen. But college, if you major in your dream subject, is going to teach you how to obtain work.
It's ironic. When I took a month off between graduation and relocating to Los Angeles for my career, I was in my home state and people were always implying, "What king of job are you going to get with a Bachelors in Theatre ?" I know the people saying that were clueless about the career so it didn't bother me, but again, as you've mentioned, based on the stereotype of acting and theatre being unstable or iffy. It ended up that my first job out of college was a non-acting career job at a professional theatre complex in Los Angeles. So don't let anyone discourage you. They are not familiar with your career interest, so they just go by the generalized and stereotypical ideas about it. But any career can be real. College will teach you how to make it real and you'll be prepared.
A "dream" career is still a career. It's a dream right now because you love it ! Go for the career you love and don't let anyone make you feel wrong about it. Best wishes in all you do !
Wendy Zhang
5
Answers
Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Updated
Wendy’s Answer
Hello Kayla, Nice to meet you and hope you are fine with this message. My advice is to jump out of the comfortable zone. When I was a junior student, my dream is go to colleague which is far from home and parents. My parents' advices are to study in the college that near home and study the major which will be easy to look for a job to support myself after graduation. Finally, the college near home which will take 2hurs by highway, but the major is the one I choose. So today I think I make a right decision at that time. Be open minded to seek your dream without hesitations, nobody can know what is exactly good for you and nobody can make decision for you, the life is holding in your hands. You can choose the direction and ways. Pls be brave, even if all others not support you but if the dream is positive and worthy then you will have more and more energy, inspirations, your life will full of sunshine and flowers. Come on, go for it. ~~ hopefully it can help you ~~ if still have doubts pls write it down let have discussions on it.
Is the dream your are good at or you want to put your time on it ?
What is the constraint for you to make decisions ?
Why you have doubts on how to choose your college and major ?
Wendy recommends the following next steps:
Delete Comment
Flag Comment