Tuesday, September 18, 2007

More on the Non-Academic/soccer factors in the college decision

Non-academic-athletic factors – These include the location of the school (urban or rural), size of school (and of classes), off-campus activities, housing, social life, etc.

Consider where you are when you step off campus. What does the city or town offer and is it what you are looking for. This is not saying that one scenario is better than another, but your entire college life will not just be within the confines of the campus. If you are in a major city, then you have the option of taking advantage of the many cultural and social outlets that will be there. At the same time you will have the challenges that a big city brings – transportation, safety, noise, etc.

If you come from a small private school with small class sizes you may wish to continue that. Ask the average class size at the school. There is usually a direct correlation of class size to total student body size. What are you comfortable with?

Clearly you need to see what other the school offers within its campus that will enhance your experience. That may be concerts, clubs to join, speakers and many other events.

Spend a night in a dorm if you can. Certainly if you are a potential student-athlete then you should take an overnight visit to get to know the team. Remember that the dorm room is critical to your enjoyment as you will end up back in that room everyday you are in college.

Truly, just walking around and looking at the current students gives you an idea of what you would be joining. The best thing that can happen is that at some point during your visit to a school you are able to say – “I know this is for me”.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

more on the college decision process

Parts 3 and 4 of a decision...

3. Non-academic-athletic factors – These include the location of the school (urban or rural), size of school (and of classes), off-campus activities, housing, social life, etc
4. Financial Factors – Obviously this is critical, but I put it last for a reason. I strongly urge people to try and decide on the college they want to go to and then see if they can make it work financially. You will be amazed at the many ways of working out a plan to pay for school. Your best resource for help is the financial Aid Department at that school. Many of the high cost schools have some creative ways of funding the education. Naturally, you may have the opportunity for athletic scholarships (if you are the best of the best), but there are other ways to get to the school you want).

I will expand on these 2 areas in the next blog.