Well, folks, this is it. My advice over the past nine months has culminated in this column: How to make your college decision. Now that I have built up this column, let me remind you to please keep your expectations low.
For high school seniors, May 1 is the deadline to make a college decision if you intend to pursue secondary education. So, in short, you have 30 days to decide on your next four years. They couldn’t even give you the longest month of the year to make this decision.
Navigating the college decision can be incredibly stressful, but fortunately, your resident college reporter has some helpful advice.
How to Make Your College Decision
A lot of advice columns online will share similar tips on making the college decision, which you definitely should check out (after reading my column, of course). I, however, attempted to come up with a few unique things to consider, because why not give you more to think about?
- Back in August, I recommended that you create a list of factors that are important when crafting a list of colleges. Re-visiting that list will give you an idea of where your remaining schools stand. Maybe that one dining hall that offers soft-serve ice cream will be the deciding factor.
- Watch day-in-the-life videos of college students at the schools you’re considering. Yes, I recommend watching TikTok before making the biggest decision of your life. It’s helpful to get an idea of how the average student spends their time on campus to see if you would fit in.
- Try to become an expert on each of your college options. Learn as much as you can about your remaining choices. Read old Reddit threads from 10 years ago, watch every video on the school’s YouTube channel, and follow the football team’s quarterback on Instagram. Okay, so maybe the last one isn’t essential.
- Don’t let anyone influence your college decision, but also seek opinions from those around you because, let’s be honest, you probably have no idea what you’re doing.
- Above all, the color and mascot of your prospective college must be the deciding factors in your decision. Do you really want to spend your next four years wearing strictly orange?
It’s been a long process to finally get to this point, but it’s all over — well, except for those of you on a waitlist. As a college freshman nearing the end of my first year, I can honestly tell you that the long nights you spent crying over plate tectonics and the Cold War will be worth it.
I hope you have taken something away from this advice column, even if that is simply to never take advice from me again. Ok, now let’s hope that isn’t true. Thank you for reading another column of “Life After North,” and have a fantastic month.