CAULIFLOWER IS NOTHING BUT CABBAGE WITH A COLLEGE DEGREE

On Friday, April 6th I had my first college visit at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia. During this visit, I was able to sit within the classrooms and get a feel for how college would be like. While following the schedule I set up—college of education, find your perfect match, honors experience, and lunch—I was able to retain a lot of information as well as find out how close together everything is within the campus. However, throughout this whole experience, the main thing that I believe everyone should know is the information I gathered from the “Find Your Perfect Match” presentation.

“I want to go to this college because I like their football team.” “I want to go here because my parents went here.” “I want to go to school here because I like their mascot.” These are all of the wrong things to think about when you are choosing a college. You need to think about the size of the school, the location of the school, the cost of everything, the academics, and the admission.

The size of the school refers to the number of enrolled students and figuring out your classroom environment preference. For example, would you like to be in a room full of 100+ students, or would you like to be in a classroom like your current classes? Next is the location. The location matters tremendously: would you like to live on the campus or a housing unit near it? You also need to feel at home. If you do not feel at home, you will not be as entertained or have much enthusiasm in your college life. This can cause you to be depressed, fail, etc. It is important for you to feel comfortable and in your element.

Your freshman year at college will be your most expensive year because you need to pay for tuition, dorms, books, and more. On average, it will cost $20,000 to $21,000 a year on the campus with the H.O.P.E. scholarship, meaning it will not go towards everything. It will only be your tuition, but it still will not be enough. Academics is more of you choose your path, like in high school. You take geometry and realize you need to go back to algebra or that you need to take it again to master the subject, same as college courses. This means you need to keep your options open and ask yourself, “Will I be helped?” If you do not feel connected or involved, then you do not belong and need to look at one of your other options. You also need to know the admission requirements, like does the college need to have your GPA? How about your high school records? So you need to visit colleges, put research into different fields, learn about the open enrollment dates, and even find out about your college counselor.

There are many other things you need to consider. College administrators do not want to be on the voice mail music line or tricked into believing someone is actually on the phone, so create a professional voicemail. It is also a great idea to create a professional email account, nothing like “[email protected]” or “[email protected]” but more along the lines of “[email protected].” You also need to have a “reach” school in mind and a “safety” school in mind. A “reach” school is a place you want to get into, but a “safety” school is a place you know you are able to get into, a place you can fall back on. However, the most important thing is to know your GPA. Do not use a random calculator or one in the App Store. Go to GAFutures.org; this is what Georgia College has suggested to everyone who was present at the presentation.

Overall, my experience was phenomenal and I believe everyone should at least visit the different college they desire to go to and take what they say to heart. Above all, though, you have to ask yourself: do you feel at home?