My Boarding School Blog

After high school graduation and all the partying has subsided and the time comes for you to take on the next level you find yourself a bit lost on the path you are headed to. Most American students face the same feeling right after graduating from high school, well for those who didn’t prepare thoroughly at least, finding the right college or university can be difficult when you are unprepared.

In the United States there are a lot of colleges and universities to choose from but not everyone can gain easy admission especially for the most prestigious ones like Harvard University, Yale and Princeton University. These top notch educational institutions are very selective and only highly qualified students are admitted.

It would be best to list a number of choices to be able to have a back up if in case you don’t get to the first few ones on top of your list. Prepare this list way before you graduate preferably a year from your graduation because the usual processing time for college applications take around 10 to 15 months.

The most important thing to assess before going through the process of selecting the right college or university for you is to choose what career or type of degree you want to take. Higher education is the key principle that will most likely determine what you are going to be as an independent adult. Higher education or a college degree is very useful in landing a job that can pay for the lifestyle you want to achieve in the future whether you plan on becoming a successful entrepreneur or a family man capable of providing for a family. A college degree will also add to your market value when you decide to become employed and join top ranking companies worldwide. Knowing your desired course or degree will be helpful in choosing the right school for you that can offer the best learning experience in the subject matter that you would want.

The next steps would be to assess the different factors that can contribute to your school selection like costs, location, environment, housing arrangements and school curriculum. These are all important factors to evaluate in choosing the right college or university. Are you thinking of living in a dorm? Are you comfortable in a sub urban community or do you want hustle and bustle of the city? Try to narrow your list down to those colleges and universities that best suits your needs and most of your wants because once you’ve made a decision you’ll be spending almost 4 to 5 years of your life there. It would be nice to have pleasant memories of your college experience to tell to your kids when you grow old.

Gather resources and inquire among friends regarding their experiences in their own college and university to gain enough knowledge on what it will feel like. You can go online and check out websites like Petersons, National Center for Education Statistics and University of North Texas.

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The US is perceived to be the ideal destination for students from other countries to pursue their education. World class institutions like Harvard, Princeton and Yale are the emblem of excellence among the world’s best universities and colleges. These prestigious schools offer competitive curriculum and advanced technology combined with the best teachers highly specialized in different fields and courses. Professors in these institutions lead in advanced and cutting edge research published in respective journals.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010 showed Harvard University at the top. The rankings were powered by a reliable information provider, Thomson Reuters, which gathered data from extensive research in more 15 countries all over the world. Seven of the top 10 universities ranked showed educational institutions from the US namely, Harvard University (1), California Institute of Technology (2), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (3), Stanford University (4), Princeton University (5), University of California Berkeley (8), and Yale University (10).

The United States has a rich diverse culture that welcomes international students to easily adapt and fit in. Universities in the US offer various courses on an infinite array of study in different fields. Specialized courses are even offered only in the US. Accreditation is also an advantage of studying in America as most of the academic courses are accredited by international organizing bodies. Application of academic concepts is best practiced in training and these schools often provide affiliations with respective specialized institutions in the medical, science, political and education fields. Since higher education in the US is very prominent worldwide the US government gives a substantial financial budget to maintain its high quality of education. An estimated annual budget of US$71 billion was allocated for the US Department of Education for 2011.

Advanced technology and modern methods of teaching is practiced in colleges and universities in the US. Media and libraries are utilized to give students access to information they need in their studies. Libraries in these universities provide a vast resource for information and are made conducive to a learning environment. Campuses are situated in spacious grounds with facilities for recreation, social events and relaxation. Dormitories in universities foster the chance to interact with students from all over the world, build friendships that could last a lifetime and provide an all around learning experience of different cultures and ideology. Ideal academic curriculum, high quality teaching and advanced facilities don’t come cheap. Surely enrolling in these prestigious universities and colleges are expensive but good thing that there are many student loans available to help and aid these potential students to experience premiere education at its best.

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