Going to college is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most people, which means that it is elemental to see that everything goes right. But when you set out to choose the right college for yourself, you are left perplexed, visiting the numerous choices in front of you. And when stuck in such cases, there is no need to fret! This is what Admission counsellors are for. An admission counsellor is armed with adequate knowledge to guide you about making the correct decision about your future.
However, it is likely you don’t know about the essential questions that you should ask an admission counsellor. So, without any further wait, let’s get going! After all, it is your first time. Luckily for you, we have mentioned all the essential questions you need to ask your admission counsellor.
1. How to write a stellar application?
The top college admissions consultants know that the most crucial part of applying to a college and getting selected is the application. Hence, your application must stand out from the other candidates to improve your chances.
Since your admission consultant is an experienced person who has helped previous people get into the same college as the one you are interested in, there is no better audience than them to ask about the criteria that mark an application outstanding. Ask your college consultant to fill you in on the necessary details to help one’s application stand out from the typical applications.
While some may believe that writing a good application is a bold question to ask when visiting a college or before visiting one. Nevertheless, this question is rather significant, and you must ask it to ensure that your application goes through!
2. How to narrow down the best university or college for me?
From Stressful myths to suitable matches, choosing a college is never an easy decision, albeit critical.
When you consider a college, you should take the time to sit down with your academic counsellor to determine the best university or college for you to attend. Choosing the best option can help you accomplish different things.
For starters, when you narrow down the best fit for yourself to attend, you can come up with a more impactful and practical as you will be able to focus on particular areas that make your application stand out.
Furthermore, inquiring about this question from your academic counsellor might make them want to spill more information about the college that you may not have known before. For example, the college offers a scholarship for students satisfying specific criteria, which are brought to your attention by your academic counsellor because you chose to beg the question in the first place!
3. What is the average strength of a class?
While you might think that the strength of a class or the average class size is not an important thing to inquire about, it is an essential question to ask.
The academic side is highly affected by the class size of a college. For example, a college with larger classes has more class strength. The immense class strength would mean that an individual student would get less attention. Additionally, you would be missing out on your chances of doing more discussion or simply a better quality of education.
On the other hand, a shorter class strength means that students are tended to more by the teacher. Additionally, the teacher is likely to explain the topics the student needs to study to the class better. However, choosing a college with enormous strength means more people will be there. Hence, your chances of socialising and making more friends will be better.
4. Who is going to be taking the classes?
Since you are going to college to make skills that you can monetise later, you must look into the staff that will be teaching you. The majority of the colleges prefer hiring a range of full-time professors, some adjunct instructors, or graduate students as teaching assistants.
While there is no harm in studying from other people, it’s always best to go with a faculty that includes full-time professors. This idea is that the professors spend their entire working hours on campus. Per semester, you will see a professor teaching at least three to four classes, not to mention the mandatory office hours.
The professors might also work as academic advisors, participate in active research on-campus privileges, and sometimes assist you with campus clubs. Hence, the faculty, including the most professors, should help choose the best.
5. On average, how much financial aid does a student receive?
While the college admission counsellors can’t depict the financial award you will get, they can fill you in about the grants, scholarships, or other financial aid schemes to help you save a buck when you decide to go to college.
If they inform you about the scholarships or financial aid, it will help you and your family decide whether or not you can afford to go to college. They are more likely to give you an apt value as they must have people go to your desired college in their past.
Furthermore, the admission counsellors also have made their rapport with the financial aid office. This way, you will be able to get more detailed information, and based on that information, you can process the numbers to decide whether or not you will go to this college.
6. How do admission officers value extracurricular activities when applying for a college or a university?
You can search Google for the meaning of “extra-curricular.” But for us, the word means that grades are not the only thing that defines a student! For the application process, the extracurricular activities bear their importance as well. Colleges consider extracurricular activities to judge your personality and help them recruit.
Considering the extracurricular activities helps the college staff realise what new they will bring to the table and what value you can provide that college that can help improve their reputation.
Considering your extracurricular activities can help your college counsellor find the best-suited opportunities for you and help you showcase your skills in the best possible way. Furthermore, some colleges also offer scholarships if you are good at the extracurricular activity of your choice.
7. What are the graduation rates for four-year and six-year?
It’s no secret that the costs to complete your degree at a college are a lot. If you want an accurate estimate of what you will be paying for your degree during your tenure at the college, multiply the charges per year by four.
But wait, there is more. The majority of the students cannot graduate within the designated period of four years set forth by the university. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, In 2010, the six-year graduation ratio was 60% whereas, the graduation ratio for the four-year graduates was about 40.6%.
Knowing this, you must enquire about the graduation rates. Ensure to go for a college with a higher ratio of four-year students compared to the students graduating in six years.
If a college has a higher rate of students graduating in four years than six years, it means that the college is taking all the proper steps to keep its students on the correct path.
8. The Academic and health support services that are available for students?
We are going to be honest here. College can become stressful for students to manage, considering the never-ending load of study and the pressure of maintaining the social bonds make it stressful.
Apart from these, you face many other challenges and sentiments, especially if you opt to go to a college that is far away from your home. You never know when you need someone to take care of your health.
So, you must ensure that the college has the means for looking after mental health, physical health, academic, and even disability support services. The presence of these facilities will help make your college life considerably better and keep your health in check. Inquiring about these services will also help know whether these services are available for free or will cost you.
9. What are the common questions for a college interview?
Once you submit your application and it gets accepted, most colleges will ask you to conduct an interview. The majority of the colleges encourage the applicants to discuss with their admission staff and consider the interview a part of the application process.
If the college you are applying to asks for an application interview, it’s best not to go unprepared. Consult with your academic counsellor to catch you on the possible questions that you might find yourself answering in the conducted interview!
Since college counsellors have considerable experience in this field, they are more likely to ask you the questions that hit too close to home and prepare for them beforehand.
10. Do Students get help finding Internships?
Sure, there is nothing wrong with having fun, doing enjoyable activities, enjoying sports, and chilling in the dorm rooms. But don’t forget that the main objective of going to college is to help you kickstart your professional career.
Regardless of whatever you do, keep the main objective in mind. So, ensure to inquire the college counsellor or the college’s career centre for possible internship programs.
Some colleges go as far as to mandate an internship to graduate. While it may not be a stipulation everywhere, internships are essential and significantly help your career. So, ensure to ask your college counsellor to give you all the opportunities. Once you are done with college and you start sending out your resume to firms, they might be impressed seeing your internships.
Final Words
You cannot gain adequate information from reading the brochure and website of a college. If you consider a college, it’s only fair that you put it under a microscope. And an admission counsellor helps you in doing just that.
Hopefully, the questions that we have mentioned in this article will help you gain adequate knowledge about choosing a college so that you can get on with the best years of your life.
If you want to share something with us regarding this topic, mention it in the comments section!
