Before students can feel fundamentally prepared to select an appropriate university, they need to understand whether or not college is right for them, and why they choose to go. To support that preparation, I'll introduce three broad questions students should be able to answer.
In subsquent articles, I will deep dive into each of them.
First, it's useful to understand that the earliest stage of the decision making process is all about building vision.
Why? because a concrete vision provides a foundation upon which the rest of this process is built. Without vision, all of this is tends to feel ungrounded and it’s easy to lose your way.
Important Note: "vision" is not necessarily synonymous with a professional goal. While a student's personal vision will often include a career path, it isn't required to build this foundation.
Now, let's get to those questions:
1. Do you already have a vision for your life, and does that vision require a specialized degree? Perfect! You already know "why". You need the degree fulfill your goal. Now start asking yourself what kinds of schools have a program that offers that degree.
2. Do you already have a vision for your life, but it doesn't require a specialized degree?
Great! Now ask yourself how attending college will help you to create the life you want for yourself and maybe start to determine the type of college that creates an atmosphere that matches your vision.
3. Do you feel as though you are completely without a vision?
No problem! You are part of the majority and that's just fine. Can you still determine if college will be worth the effort and money? Yes, and we'll discuss that in detail soon.
For now, let these questions serve as simple food for thought for you and your students. We'll dive into the more complex fare in future posts.