Introduction to Choosing a Right-Fit College
Introduction to Choosing a Right-Fit College
Transcript
Many prospective students, including veterans, start their application process with only one specific college or university in mind. Such a focused approach may feel sensible. After all, why bother applying if you don't have one in mind already? While it might seem like such a plan will save you a lot of time, this type of approach offers a narrow start to your college experience.
Think for a moment where and how the preconceived notion of a single school may have come into view. Was it, for example, based on a review of college rankings, word of mouth, or even the strength of a college's athletic program? It's rarely based on individual consideration of you, your learning needs, professional goals, and lifestyle. These factors should be at the center of your college research process.
The goal of this module is to help you with your college research process in two ways, one, to give you some new tools to effectively sort through the thousands of college options out there, and two, to help you use those tools to narrow this field in a precise way. You will be encouraged to broaden your potential pool of choices while remaining true to those elements that are most important to you and your future college experience. Even if you already have a top-choice school, going through the college research process outlined in this module may help you find one or two gems out there that you haven't yet considered. In addition to discovering other possible colleges or universities, the college research process outlined in this module might reveal some interesting and unexpected perspectives, things like, is it possible to apply to a more highly selective institution if you take a little extra time to go to a community college first, or liberal arts colleges tend to have smaller class sizes, which might be a better fit in terms of who you are and how you like to learn.
Going through this process, you may discover that a technical college is a better option for you, or a more rural setting serves your needs and that of your family better. This module will ask you to consider two important questions to start your search, one, where are you now, and two, where do you want to go? This module will ask you to think about why higher education is the best pathway to accomplish your goals, evaluate your academic readiness, and decide if you are overreaching in your choices or are selling yourself short. You will examine how to prioritize your choices against personal considerations like location, proximity to family, or other family needs, and the financial implications of the schools on your list.
Veterans might want to consider whether you hope to utilize Joint Service Transcript or the College Level Examination Program, also known as CLEP credits. In this module, you will gain a basic overview of higher education that includes types of colleges, accreditation, and other things to consider. You will be provided with some essential knowledge that will help you understand different types of higher education institutions, learn about accreditation and why it's so important, think critically about why higher education institutions may or may not be a good fit, find higher education institutions which match your current profile, and help you become as competitive an applicant as possible when you identify your target institutions.
This module will walk you through college admission criteria and the admission selection process. As you will learn, each school will have its own unique methods, incentives, and requirements for admissions. This module will arm you with a checklist of questions to ask as you gather the school-specific details around veteran-specific financial aid and credit questions, including transfer credits. You will be able to seek out dedicated veteran services versus those generally available to the student body and understand why, depending upon the university, while certain credits may not be accepted for transfer, they may well still be considered in a holistic review process by admissions.
By the end of this module, you will build a personal college list. Your list will include reach schools, likely schools, and target schools. You will leave this module with a basic understanding of higher education structures with the confidence in how to select the right major and with a complete college list that includes application requirements and deadlines.
I know this sounds like a lot. And it is. But trust us. We'll walk you through each of these areas of concern.
Remember to take notes and complete all recommended activities, including those in your workbook. They may seem small, but the exercises are designed to prepare you for larger tasks you'll encounter as you transition into higher education. Last of all, don't be afraid of the rewind button. If you miss something that seems important later on, you can always revisit the online content-- good luck, and happy learning.
Think for a moment where and how the preconceived notion of a single school may have come into view. Was it, for example, based on a review of college rankings, word of mouth, or even the strength of a college's athletic program? It's rarely based on individual consideration of you, your learning needs, professional goals, and lifestyle. These factors should be at the center of your college research process.
The goal of this module is to help you with your college research process in two ways, one, to give you some new tools to effectively sort through the thousands of college options out there, and two, to help you use those tools to narrow this field in a precise way. You will be encouraged to broaden your potential pool of choices while remaining true to those elements that are most important to you and your future college experience. Even if you already have a top-choice school, going through the college research process outlined in this module may help you find one or two gems out there that you haven't yet considered. In addition to discovering other possible colleges or universities, the college research process outlined in this module might reveal some interesting and unexpected perspectives, things like, is it possible to apply to a more highly selective institution if you take a little extra time to go to a community college first, or liberal arts colleges tend to have smaller class sizes, which might be a better fit in terms of who you are and how you like to learn.
Going through this process, you may discover that a technical college is a better option for you, or a more rural setting serves your needs and that of your family better. This module will ask you to consider two important questions to start your search, one, where are you now, and two, where do you want to go? This module will ask you to think about why higher education is the best pathway to accomplish your goals, evaluate your academic readiness, and decide if you are overreaching in your choices or are selling yourself short. You will examine how to prioritize your choices against personal considerations like location, proximity to family, or other family needs, and the financial implications of the schools on your list.
Veterans might want to consider whether you hope to utilize Joint Service Transcript or the College Level Examination Program, also known as CLEP credits. In this module, you will gain a basic overview of higher education that includes types of colleges, accreditation, and other things to consider. You will be provided with some essential knowledge that will help you understand different types of higher education institutions, learn about accreditation and why it's so important, think critically about why higher education institutions may or may not be a good fit, find higher education institutions which match your current profile, and help you become as competitive an applicant as possible when you identify your target institutions.
This module will walk you through college admission criteria and the admission selection process. As you will learn, each school will have its own unique methods, incentives, and requirements for admissions. This module will arm you with a checklist of questions to ask as you gather the school-specific details around veteran-specific financial aid and credit questions, including transfer credits. You will be able to seek out dedicated veteran services versus those generally available to the student body and understand why, depending upon the university, while certain credits may not be accepted for transfer, they may well still be considered in a holistic review process by admissions.
By the end of this module, you will build a personal college list. Your list will include reach schools, likely schools, and target schools. You will leave this module with a basic understanding of higher education structures with the confidence in how to select the right major and with a complete college list that includes application requirements and deadlines.
I know this sounds like a lot. And it is. But trust us. We'll walk you through each of these areas of concern.
Remember to take notes and complete all recommended activities, including those in your workbook. They may seem small, but the exercises are designed to prepare you for larger tasks you'll encounter as you transition into higher education. Last of all, don't be afraid of the rewind button. If you miss something that seems important later on, you can always revisit the online content-- good luck, and happy learning.