T.S. Eliot, the American-born British poet, once said that “there is no method except to be very intelligent.” Perhaps he was thinking of the time-honored idea according to which “there are no rules.” Or “rules were meant to be broken.” You could go on and think of other sayings related to the idea, like there is more than one way to skin a cat (and, cat lovers, please: this is just a saying).
The point is that when a person begins to plan for his or her college education is itself a moot question. If you are still in high school, you are probably taking courses that will let you apply for college when the time comes. That’s a kind of planning in action.
If you are a high-school senior, you are in the throes of looking for the colleges or universities to which you might apply. And you are thinking of the letters of recommendation you will need and, possibly, the personal essay you may also have to submit with your application.
If you are a working adult, single or with a family, you will think differently than a high-school student. The question of brick-and-mortar school or distance education will come up. Taking evening classes at your local community college or university is on option.
Thinking about applying for an online-degree program is another. How to budget your time is as crucial as how to budget for the tuition. Or how to apply for financial aid.
Before you actually s tart the process, perhaps it behooves you to think through just what it is what you want your education for, just what it is that you want to do with the rest of your life.
Yes, the decision to go to college is that important: it’s a question of what the rest of your life is going to be like. Are you interested in a career in business? In nursing or medicine? In teaching? In editing and publishing? In journalism? In legal studies?
The list is endless. There are courses leading to many different kinds of degrees depending on your major and minor courses of study.
Having a plan is a good idea. If you know that you want to major, say, in English, you must ask yourself just what it is that you will want to do with that degree. It’s not exactly a degree that people think of who are thinking about making lots of money once they are done with their education. But if you have a passion for teaching, for example, then majoring in English is okay.
Don’t forget, though, that graduate school may well need to follow your undergraduate degree. So that’s another thing to plan on.
Once you know what your basic goal is, the next thing to think about is which schools, which colleges and universities, offer the best courses in your chosen field? In other words, which schools have a reputation for a degree in the field you are interested in studying for.
There are other things to consider, the logistics of the entire enterprise, but the above represents the basics, the foundation on which to build your plans and clarify your goals.