Senior encourages peers to visit colleges, explore options 

At the end of your time in high school, students stress about applying to colleges and finding the right university. This decision is not an easy one to make and many people make the wrong choice. But when you take responsibility and ownership in your college choice, the end result can end in long-term success.

For example, my cousin Megan during her freshman year chose California State University, Stanislaus, to pursue her aspirations of soccer. Long story short, she ended up not liking her time at the school, which led her transferring to Clovis Community College and then to UCLA. Megan did not know whether she wanted to pursue her soccer career or to focus solely on academics. Consider what each school has to offer and what reasons you would want to attend that university.

When looking at universities, consider the things that matter to your experience while attending this school. Knowing what matters in a school is tough to figure out. Some people want to attend college for sports, acting or academics. Narrow down schools by how good their program for your sole purpose of college. For instance, I chose Grand Canyon University near Phoenix because it has a fantastic business program that connects other majors together to form a certain item or idea.

This was of course not the only reason I chose the school, but that was definitely a vital part of my college searches. Knowing what kind of school is right for you actually helps you narrow the schools you are consider. A simple campus tour of a school can give loads of information. But where you get the most information is when you speak to a student currently attending that college, and if possible, the major that you are planning on studying.

You can find out first-hand about someone else’s college experience and see whether you would like the school without even attending or spending money. Having priorities set in place before you visit a campus will tremendously help to find the right college choice.

When college shopping, considering what each college is offering and what reasons a certain university would be better than other is the name of the game. Figuring out what you want in a school is the most difficult part of the process. Then, start to narrow down which school is right for you. Begin with campus tours and then talk with students who actually attend those colleges. Getting this kind of information can make or break a college choice. Knowing all this, go out and find the right university!

Provost can be reached via email.

For more guest columns, check out COLUMN: Roman Endicott shares it’s up to us to shape our environment and COLUMN: Sophomore mourns over loss of friend.