The 3 R’s- Resources

For the second helping of the learning and building blocks of your college search and application process, I will talk about resources.  When it comes to this process there are a lot of things that are at your disposal.  The first resource you should be using is your guidance counselor.  They are there to assist you with the process.  When I was going through the college search, I did not make use of my counselor as much as I did.  Now I made a perfect decision with my college choice, but I did not use the guidance as much and was not as comfortable in the process as I could have been.  Your guidance counselor has a lot of knowledge to give about colleges.  You do not have to do this on your own.  Another resource that you should use are the college admission officers.  In referring to the first R (research) you should visit the campuses you are interested in attending.  While you are there, the admission officers are there to answer the questions that you have about their respective schools.  If there is a question you need answered, ask.  Another resource you can use are the college websites.  There is a lot of information at your disposal on college websites.  Many of them will have quick facts, frequently asked questions and departmental websites that can really go into more depth than an admission officer can.  We as officers are charged to know a lot about the school, but we will not know everything.  The final resource I will talk about in this entry is students.  We all have older friends who attend schools that we are also interested in attending.  Ask them how they like it.  Ask them what they do not like.  Ask them if they had to make the decision again, would they.

These are a few things that do not take too much effort that will provide a lot of information while you are looking for colleges.  Be sure to use these different opportunities to make the best choice possible.  This is an important decision, but also be sure to relax.

– Randy Tripp