Many students don’t realize that it isn’t their choice of college, or choice of major, that will determine success at college. They should consider your happiness first.
But what does that mean, exactly?
We tell students: If you can engage in the “community,” you will be more likely to optimize your experience, socially and academically, and be satisfied with the “value for the money” from your choice of college.
But the hidden secret of college shopping, is that your WILL depend of your choice of academic program within a college. It’s the “program” that you should be shopping for, once you’re sure that you will be comfortable with the social environment of top choice schools.
The latest National Survey of Student Engagement uncovered that 90% of the variance in student satisfaction campus quality is explained by students at the same schools not having the same experiences. The study reported that there are differences across academic programs at the same college when it comes to important factors like “social support”, “interactions with students from other ethnicities”, and “active and collaborative learning”.
And, this week, Forbes Magazine urged the 3.3 million newly minted high school graduates to save themselves pronounced anxiety by bargain shopping for their educations. Author and recent grad student/blogger Joie Jager-Hyman says that what's most important is a student’s “willingness to engage…, commit to learning and actively take part in classes that challenge…”.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/26/college-admission-officer-opinions-contributors-decision.html
Coming up! Workshops on College Essay Writing and Career Exploration (May 2), Register at http://www.whatsyourmajor.net/Jill Bernaciak at Linked In
My mission is to empower youth with: - The knowledge about career possibilities, and the education and training needed to attain them - The creative-thinking and emotional skills that make for good career decisions and which employers prefer; - And the resilience needed to flourish in life.
