Warm sand, cool surf, beach volleyball … oh wait, that’s college spring break. High school spring break doesn’t quite have the same epic adventure associated with it. But nonetheless, spring break is coming up which means you probably have a week off of school and are in need of some decent plans. So what’s a high school student to do?
ROAD TRIP!!
Again, maybe not a made-for-TV-movie road trip, but think about heading out with your folks and visit a few colleges within driving distance*. I can’t stress enough how important it is to check out campuses. You will be amazed at how great you might think a school is… and then you set foot on campus. You’ll see the students, feel the vibe, take a student-lead tour, maybe even sit in on a class, and your entire perspective might change. You might realize this is exactly the kind of school you want to attend, or you might realize that this is not at all what you imagined. Regardless, getting out and visiting schools near your home is a great way to spend spring break and to explore colleges. Even if you aren’t interested in your local university, it might be worth checking out just so you can wrap your head around what it’s like to go a school with 20,000+ students. I know I was in a bit of a shock when I walked into an Economics lecture that had more students than my entire (400 person) high school. It’s hard to grasp without experiencing it.
Do you already have plans for spring break? Share them! The comments section is here for you guys to converse with one another or ask any questions of me or WiseChoice. And if you do road trip to some colleges over spring break, definitely let me know how it goes!
* One important watch-out: before you go, make sure it’s not also spring break for any college you plan to visit. If it is, the campus will be empty and you will not get a true idea of what the school is really like.
Hi, my name is Natalia and I am currently a high school senior, hoping to study engineering in college. Like many of you, I am in the process of choosing and applying to colleges; I started with a list of over 20 schools, but I managed to eliminate about ten from my list. If you do the math, I saved about $600 in application fees. So how did I choose which schools I would eventually apply to? I did a college visit with every school on my list. I used to be one of those students who thought I could make a decision on the university I’d attend just by reviewing the schools’ websites and brochures, but when I tried to shorten my list, I realized that wasn’t helping me. Luckily, my high school offers juniors an opportunity to take a college visit of in-state colleges. I live in Florida and there is a state-wide scholarship here that helps students who are residents pay for collegiate education within the state. My high school encourages all students to apply to in-state colleges, and the college visits help the students get excited about state schools.
With state schools flooding my list, I decided to go on the college visits and see what more information I could get. When I got there I realized that the tour guides really didn’t have much to say outside of what I already knew, unless someone asked a question about a specific topic. But you can do this over the phone or even through email. So what’s the big deal with visiting schools?
When you visit a college, you realize that sometimes the pictures on the flyers can be deceiving. You might see the pictures and think, “wow, that’s beautiful,” but until you actually visit, you won’t know if the place really is as great as it seems. The environment has to fit the student. If you feel uncomfortable in college, you won’t be able to concentrate properly. The people at the college also play a huge part of the college experience. Visiting colleges lets you get a feel for the type of people who attend that university. The people might be too shy or too outgoing for you, but only you can say which crowd is the right crowd for you.
I understand that your high school might not offer these types of trips, but try to visit colleges on your own and if possible, try to arrange for an overnight stay. I definitely recommend visiting colleges because whether you fall in love or are disappointed by a college, visiting is the only way to figure out how much you really like a certain university.
Good luck with your search and happy holidays.
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