By Pragya Jhunjhunwala In collaboration with Aashima Ma'am( College Guidance Counselor)
I am often asked, as a 12th-grade student, which stream I am in. This led me to think when a student in the 11th or 12th grade is asked by someone ” what steam are you in?”, these are typical reactions to the answers- “Oh you’re in science, all the best for your NEET & JEE exams”, “Oh you’re in commerce, so you plan to become a Chartered Accountant”, or “Oh you’re in humanities...” It is so quintessential of us to believe that there are only a limited number of career opportunities that one will take depending upon their subject choices. The evolving times have created many more learning as well as job prospect opportunities. Most of the time, students are not aware of the choices they have and miss out on the golden opportunity of majoring in subjects more suitable for them. The path to going against a norm and finding better majors for themselves in college starts with a student’s college list. However, before preparing this list there are a few questions the student should think about are:
If they are going to be staying in India or applying abroad? Are they keeping their options open or restricted to specific countries? If they are applying abroad, which countries are being considered?
If the student has already taken certain standardized tests, are the test scores good enough to apply to the college of his choice? Is the student’s GPA good enough to apply to that college?
What is the importance of getting a scholarship to that student?
IMPORTANCE OF GOING AGAINST THE NORMS
When deciding on a college list, the first thing a student tends to judge a college on is ranking; however, what they fail to understand at times is that the ranking of a college is subject to many parameters and therefore should not be the sole decider. The important thing to focus on would be to decide if that particular college is the best fit for that student and if the student is the best fit for that college. This element of best fit cannot be decided by only considering the rankings.
Another norm that should not be followed is the choice of countries-particularly the US. Everyone wants to live out “the American dream”, but the student
will never know if this what he actually wants till other countries have been explored. Colleges in Europe and Asia(besides India) often tend to get neglected. Most students do not explore these colleges because they are usually not familiar with it, do not know anyone who has previously gone there or are simply unsure about them. Once explored and analyzed, a student may feel that the environment in a different country is more suitable to them. Therefore, one should have an open mind while selecting their future path.
Not following norms can have multiple advantages but the biggest advantage is that the student can now personalize his/her way. The student will be confident because they are sure that they are going to like their learning experience and make it a lifelong memory.
YOUR COLLEGE LIST: This list is the building block of your application process. Some tips and steps that I followed while forming my list are
1. I explored all my options regarding subject choices and different countries. I looked up colleges based on some preferences I had- smaller student-teacher ratio, residential college, etc. I found some colleges which were best for my choice of major and in the process of exploring also stumbled upon other majors which caught my interest.
2. I then researched each college as well as majors. This part did take a few days but proved fruitful. I went into each college’s website and looked into the admission criteria and even took their virtual campus tour which gave me great insights and understanding of that university.
3. Then, I streamlined the information by putting it all on an excel sheet. This helped me get a clearer look at my options at a glance. From this, I shortlisted my final choices. I broke them down into 4 categories based on acceptance possibility- Very difficult, difficult, not-so-difficult, and safety.
Explore. Research. Streamline. These three steps definitely helped me gain more clarity and will help most students too.
This task of making a personalized college list will not only help a student in their college decisions but also improve critical thinking and decision making skills. During each step, one will be forced to take a call and scrutinize certain factors as per his/her liking. It will force one to think about what will be beneficial for themselves and under which circumstances they will perform best.
So get cracking on your list immediately and Greenwood High students can always reach out to Aashima Ma'am(aashimas@greenwoodhigh.edu.in) for any guidance.
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