College Discernment: Have you picked your college yet?

By Erin Maguire
Special to The CS&T

“Let’s go sledding!” It was 1 a.m. on a Monday morning in January and it had been snowing for the past couple of hours. I looked at the guy who posed the proclamation and laughing, agreed. It was Super Bowl Sunday. I remember laughing more than I had laughed in a long time and realizing that this was the perfect fit. This is where I was meant to be.
We picked the biggest hill on campus and the four of us piled onto the little inflatable tube, carelessly flying down the white slope. We were dressed in pajamas without snow boots or hats. It didn’t seem that cold, anyway. After sledding for a half hour, we trudged back to the dorm to crash. We had class in six hours.
My overnight stay at De Sales University was the deciding factor in my choosing a college. After a frustrating year of looking at schools, researching and visiting, my mom and I were both going insane. Every day off or weekend was devoted to a college visit. Most days I came home from school to see my mom sitting at the kitchen table with a college catalogue open and “Here Erin, what about this one?”
I was tired. I was stressed. I was beginning to think that I would never find a college that was right for me.
My mom was there for me through it all, but she was getting tired, too. My mom probably felt worse than I did because she worries and because I’m her daughter. I appreciate my mother being such a dear lady and for keeping me focused during all that trauma.
When picking a college, in order to keep sanity, here are some words of advice:

Make a List:
First, make a list of things required of a college. These might include: major, location, sports and activities, campus ministry, the size of the school, study abroad and most importantly (for me at least), the ratio of men to women. This is a list that you feel will be most beneficial to you.
Do not let friends or family impact this list because they are not the ones who will be attending the school for the next four years. For example, do not choose a school simply because a parent went there.
Also, it is not a good idea to go to a school just because a friend is going there. This is also important when picking a roommate. Try to live with someone you don’t know. It makes the college experience that much more adventuresome!

Find Colleges that Meet Your List:
Next, find schools in college books or online that have most of the items on your list. Go online to get more information about the school. Find a course catalogue that lists the courses you would be taking for your major.
If you’re undecided, look at the majors they offer so you will know what your options are. Internet searching can help narrow the list, but also keep in mind that a school should not be judged completely for its online content.

Visit the Colleges:
The most important step in the college discernment process is visiting the school. Go on a tour. Look at the classrooms you will be sitting in. Visit the professors and talk to them. Go to the library, the cafeteria and the dorms. Picture yourself at the college and imagine fitting in.
The best opportunity in getting a good picture of the college is an overnight stay. This entails actually staying in the dorm, eating in the cafeteria, attending classes, but most importantly, meeting the people who go there.
College is most importantly about getting an education. The education is twofold. There is also a social factor. Community is a very important aspect of college and is the core of the experience. Both academics and social events are fun and rewarding.
Most colleges are colleges because they provide a good education. The professors and the classes do make a huge difference in the kind of education you will receive, but it is the people you become friends with at college that will make getting through the classes and dealing with adversity bearable.
I picked De Sales because it’s the right school for me. There are hundreds of different colleges because there are hundreds of different types of people with various interests and needs. The right school for your friend may not be the right school for you.
Although the enormous, unending expanse of colleges available can be overwhelming, think of it as a reassurance that there is most definitely a college out there for you. With God all things are possible.
Pray about it. If God wants you to go there, it will become clear. Trust, believe and most importantly, “be not afraid.”

Erin Maguire was the 2003 recipient of The Catholic Standard & Times journalism scholarship. She is a freshman journalism student at De Sales University in Center Valley, Pa.