Deciding where you want to go to college is no easy task. Getting accepted into the correct college can be yet another challenge. Though it may sound exciting to attend an extremely selective, competitive university, perhaps it is not the best thing for everyone.
Enrolling in a university that is very selective can bring challenges. When a university is more selective, students are highly competitive within the environment. You may sit beside students who took AP classes all of high school and still passed with a 4.0 GPA.
The pressure to succeed academically can take away from other aspects of life. Sure, graduating from a well-known university is impressive. However, other universities may provide just as good of an experience, or perhaps better, for students.
I know someone who attended the University of California, Los Angeles, which has an acceptance rate of only 17.3 percent, before transferring to California Baptist University. At UCLA, he said he rarely spoke to professors directly and nobody invested time to help him learn.
Smaller schools can provide more personalized learning, and professors are more likely to get to know students, help them improve in their classes and maybe even find an internship or job.
In the latest college admissions scandal in the United States, 50 people were charged with manipulating or bribing college admissions departments to get their children into school. Most of the people charged were wealthy elitists who wanted their children to be able to attend certain schools.
The student who had poor grades but whose parent bought his or her way in is likely going to fall below high standards they cannot necessarily achieve.
Appreciate attending a college that matters, that invests time and resources into you and creates valuable opportunities.
