Searching for the right college... Any advice?

I am a junior in High School, and I plan on taking the ACT next month. My grades aren't all that spectacular; I have about a B- to straight B average, or 2.8 GPA.

I'm making a file of colleges I might be interested in, from Purdue to Hillsdale and from Penn State to Wayne State to Grand Valley State, and many in between. (I don't mean to be masochistic here, but I doubt I would make it in to the Big Ten universities, but who knows?)

I am looking at a degree in Political Science, Public Administration, Accounting, History, or Environmental Science. I think I might be a teacher, financial guru, or something else before I enter politics; I doubt voters would trust a 21-year-old college graduate to run their government, so I want to have a good career (or two or three!) during my twenties and maybe in my thirties try to get into public life.

Do you know of any good colleges in those areas in the Great Lakes region? (I don't want to travel too far from West Michigan)

Also, what advice do you college graduates have for me when it comes to searching for colleges? What advice do you have about college life?

Come visit the University of Toronto over the summer.

You just get a certain feeling when you visit your future school. I know I did. FSU and UF didn't do it for me. But when I went to UCF I felt much better about my decision to go there.

Also, I recommend joining some clubs (or a frat if that's your thing) as soon as you can. You'll have so much more free time in college than you do in HS.

I don't like in the great lakes region and so I don't know the area too well. Sorry.

Good Luck!

Good poli sci program, great campus atmosphere, awesome football team

don't be too sure about what it is you want to do. For me the real value of college wasn't the degree or the preparation for a career but rather the opportunity to have my horizons expanded. Consider college a learning experience instead of as a means to an end. Go liberal arts, take classes you think would be interesting instead of classes that 'look good' or will only help you advance a career. Way too many people view college as a 'fast track' to a job, they don't want to take any classes that are outside of their area of study bc college is just pre professional. Enjoy it. Linger. Consider it really expensive quality time. Dedicate yourself to endurance, anyone can graduate in 4 years, try for 6-8. Really savor your mistakes, they;ll never again be so unimportant. Develop a taste for alcohol and drugs, don't waste your time with studying and other 'responsible' whatnot. In all things, be as completely irresponsible as is possible.

You do realize that college is expensive, and 8 years is double the cost of 4? :P

I'm having a hard enough time convincing my mother that $128,000 (4 years) is worth it -- if you can explain $256,000 to her, I'll stay 8 :P

They have decent programs in all of those areas. I took classes there while in high school and would have been a multigeneration legacy if I would have went there full time (Oh no, I just identified my home area.). I had some friends get in there with your grades so getting in shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as you are taking college prep classes and don't bomb the ACT.
As far as searching for colleges, know what you want from a college. For example, going to a small academically and liberally minded residential college was a priority for me. You might have something different in mind when you look for a college. Visit each campus that you are intersted in, which shouldn't be a problem if you want to go to colleges near you. Ask lots of questions. Visit with students and profs.
If cost is a factor, be sure to ask about financial aid and whether the school is committed to meeting each student's financial needs.
As for as college life, stay on top of your studies, get involved in something but not everything, and have fun.

I heard that they are rather selective. A couple people that went to my college didn't get in there which is strange since my alma mater has a stronger academic freshman class and more selective admissions. Since it is a large college, admissions is probably more formulamatic and his/her GPA would automatically disqualify him/her.

consider going to a community college or state school for the first year or two and get most of your "requirements" out of the way on a budget. It's good to take courses outside your major, but if you'll only ever take one chemistry class because it's required, why pay a premium price for it?

Consider also a small school. State schools are all about "thinning the herd" -- for instance, when I was in school a hundred years ago, the engineering program was designed to squeeze out 4/5 of the students out, I guess so the top level classes aren't overcrowded. Small schools want to keep you and watch you graduate, so they might be more inclined to provide positive incentives.

Is Adrian University in Adrian, MI still around? They sent me about a million things when I was a senior, but I didn't even pay a visit. Now, I sort of romanticize it as a wonderful place that I SHOULD have gone to.

We're lucky to live in the country with the best higher education system in the world--clearly, you want to visit as many schools that you're interested in as you can to see which one feels right. On the other hand, and I know this is going to be tough--try not to stress too much about it. You can get a great education pretty much wherever you go, and most schools are big enough that it's nearly impossible not to meet some people on your wavelength.

Anyway, good luck--you're going to have a great time

Not sure I have anything to add, but I want to second some of the following ideas others have posted already:

• Focus on learning for the fun of it and seeing the world. Maybe not literally seeing the world by traveling (I'm sooooooo grateful for choir tours!), but seeing how people outside the settings you're familiar with live and think and feel. Take the courses you have to take, but also take courses that interest you and courses you never thought you might want to take. You might discover new talents and new directions to travel. That includes fine arts courses, dammit!!!


• Consider a small liberal arts college. Most have programs in the fields you mentioned. You'll get a lot more attention from professors at small schools, and as some have already mentioned, they're focused on you as a student and your potential to contribute to society more than your potential as a graduate/representative/donor representing their institution.


• Visit, visit, visit! Nothing beats seeing the place and talking to people there yourself!

I wish you the best of luck!

Take risks and think for yourself!

But we can see you already think for yourself--you're a DUer!

Just look what it did for me.
John
MSU is good at environmental science and public administration, Northwood or Hillsdale are both good at accounting and financial matters. An old girl friend of mine studied accounting at Davenport in GR, then finished at GVSU. She's now a CPA.
I'd ask why you don't consider Western, but that's heresy to a Chippewa.

I hope to take some of it to heart!

I was IL and didn't want to go out of state, here's what I came up with:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:
HUGE campus. Literally, it's the size of a small town.
Rather selective -- you want to get in with that GPA/Rank, you better get above 30 on ACT. (I got denied because I f'd up freshman year. 1.0 first year, 4.0 the other three. Still bitter.)
Great school, LOTS of frats -- can be good or bad depending on you. Around 70% of the senior class is in a frat/sorority.

Anything in Chicago:
Chicago rocks. And there's lots of internships, etc. It's freakin' Chicago. :p

http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/advhome.jsp

You can search by area, major, cost, etc to find schools that you might be interested in... It also shows the average test scores of those who get accepted so you can have an idea of whether you would be accepted or not. Then, check out the websites for the colleges that look interesting to you and try to go visit them in person.

Good luck. :)