Marco! Polo!

When you've spent the last nine months of your life attempting to find the "right" college for yourself and you finally achieve that goal, the last thing you expect to be doing is going through the whole process over again. Remember that comment in my first post about how some people involuntarily shudder at the thought of college? Yeah that was one of my friends. For the record: he also does that if you poke him in the back of the neck. Its hilarious to watch. But anywho, he's finally accepted that he needs help.

Saturday morning and I am sitting here quizzing him by text message as to what he wants out of college. Now to give you a better idea of my predicament, imagine digging a hole through cement pavement using only your hands and a dull spoon. Possible but it is painful and takes more time and patience than Freud ever had in his lifetime. Luckily this time around I can speed through the rest of it since I've just finished doing it once already.

Remember how in kindergarten you were constantly being asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?" by teachers, parents, and even the kid across the table from you who had that crayon stuck half way up his nose? Everyone naturally jumped up and shouted firefighter! Ambulance driver! Policeman! Endocrinologist! (Yeah we looked at him weird too...) Well now its time to seriously decide. Even if you end up changing your mind later you need some idea of at least the field of study you want to work in.
After that comes the interesting stuff. Going to college fairs is a blast and an excellent way to find out more about colleges. Another choice is to ask your school's career counselor for a college catalogue. These are large magazine/book-like items that list many of the colleges in the state/region/country and what they are known for eg: medicine, law, liberal arts, etc. If these options are not as helpful as you had hoped then move your search to the internet. The college matchmaker at http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/index.jsp is great. Don't get too specific though because then you might rule out colleges that you'd actually love if you took the time to look at.

After that its just researching the results and finding the one that fits you best. Don't forget about campus visits! Those are great for checking out the "feel" of a campus. Usually you're able to tell right off if its right for you or not. Did you find your college a different way? I'd love to hear about it.