WITH BOUNDLESS POSSIBILITY, HOW CAN YOU CHOOSE?

What to do when opportunities abound. 

Stevi Schuknecht, Director of College Counseling

Imagine walking into a car dealership just before your 16th birthday. But this is not a normal car dealership. You step in and look across acres and acres of cars. Each one is different: different specifications, different prices, and different salespeople representing each of the hundreds of cars vying for your attention. The options stretch out before you, and the details feel overwhelming. For one, you are not sure how cars even work, so all the promises you hear do not mean much. There are prices on each car, but on your way in, the greeter tells you that they are mostly arbitrary. No one pays the posted prices. And, as you are trying to read materials and listen to sales representatives, several friends and relatives are texting and calling to give you their opinions. You decide you are interested in sports cars with fast engines, especially red ones. Your mom worries about the safety of a fast car and is steering you toward larger SUVs. Your dad keeps trying to show you a minivan (minivan?!?) that he thinks is a more practical choice–after all, you have siblings. Finally, one of the sales floor attendants asks you what you are looking for, and you freeze. “What type of car will meet all your needs and help you accomplish your goals?” And you realize you aren’t sure, especially since you haven’t driven at all. How does one decide when the opportunities are endless?

Now, imagine the cars are booths at a college fair, and you may begin to feel the overwhelm that many high school sophomores and juniors share as they encounter the host of options that exist for them after graduation. They stroll past table after table, hearing admissions professionals talk about the attractive options but not understanding fully which options may be significant to them. After all, they have never tried college before, and no one is allowing a test drive (at least not a real one). So, how does one decide when the possibilities are actually boundless? 

Boundless possibilities are both a fantastic reality and a real problem for many high school students. Even though opportunities seem limitless, each student can only choose one path, be it college, a gap year, or something else. For most TVS students, college is the next step. Still, there are almost 3,000 four-year colleges and universities in the United States alone, and many of our students also look beyond our borders at other options abroad. Choosing any one path means choosing NOT to pursue all the others. It can feel overwhelming, especially when the decision has great implications on almost every facet of their lives for several years. What should a student with boundless possibilities do to narrow it down and ultimately decide which opportunity to pursue?

First, gather information. It seems obvious, but shopping hundreds or thousands of options requires setting some criteria, and figuring out which criteria are important is the first step. How does one go about this? Learn about what differentiates one school from another, and determine which differentiators are important to you. In selecting a car, you may determine the color of the car is not important, nor is the make of the vehicle, but the fuel efficiency, safety features, and sound system are all important for your daily commute. Similarly, selecting important criteria in searching for colleges is critical to narrowing the options. If you have not experienced a variety of options, it will be difficult to know what can be customized and which options are important to you. This must be accomplished by spending plenty of time “kicking tires,” so to speak. Walk around campuses, visit friends in college and ask them about their experiences (especially their classroom experience), make official visits to campus, talk with your TVS college counselor and admission counselors at universities, follow colleges on social media, take virtual visits, and read materials. What is important at each place will begin to emerge, and slowly you will learn what stands out and what matters to you. Finding aspects of colleges that you do not like, or deem unimportant, is also a critical part of this process. A student recently told me, “The location and context of the college doesn’t matter to me. I don’t really care if it is in a city, in a rural area, or if I am warm or cold. I am much more interested in the size of the school, the equipment in the labs, who I will be working with in my classes, and what I will get to do on campus.” This is helpful. The student has begun to narrow the criteria that is important to him. Discovering this takes time and experience. In our office, we suggest that the majority of 11th grade should be spent working on gathering information, so that the student feels empowered to construct a list based on the criteria that feel important personally.

In this process, a student and family may hear about many options that they had not considered before. Is the student interested in an honors program? An accelerated path to an advanced degree? A global start? A paid internship? Research opportunities? A co-op program to receive college credit for work experience? The ability to study in more than one discipline, earn a dual degree program, or even the ability to design a custom degree? Colleges further incentivize their programs with certificates a student can earn along the way. Types and contexts of institutions vary greatly, but even at just one place, the possibilities feel endless. Take time to learn and determine what is important to the student and what is important to all the stakeholders. If compromise needs to happen, ensure the wishes of each party are understood and addressed. Just remember, the student will be the actual driver of the vehicle. Will it accomplish that student’s goals and meet his or her needs?  

After gathering information for many months, themes should emerge. By the end of 11th grade, the student should be able to explain why each option being considered seems appealing and why it would be a good choice. If the student cannot do this, or if the reasons ultimately belong to someone else, further reflection is important. 

We tell families that a healthy number of college applications is usually between six and 10, with some exceptions in both directions. But it takes plenty of work in discovery for students to arrive at the beginning of 12th grade with a balanced list of places they know well and to which they feel confident applying. It is important for students to look beyond the first place they like to construct a list of places where they can see themselves. This ensures a healthy and successful process that will result in multiple options. With the limitless opportunities out there, most students can find a list of options that will fit their criteria.

In 12th grade, the challenge shifts. The student has narrowed the myriad of opportunities to a reasonable list of exciting options to pursue. The applications are completed, the waiting begins, and sometime around April 1, just weeks before graduation, the student knows which options are available. In other words, the student should have a short list of colleges that have admitted him or her and that are affordable. Then, the question again arises, how does a student choose just one opportunity from among several? 

The following are questions we often ask students: 

• Which place fits best in all the areas of “fit?” These include, but are not limited to, the academic fit, the social fit, the financial fit. 

• Which option would you regret not taking advantage of 10 years from now?

• Where can you see yourself most easily? 

• Where do you feel you will thrive in every area of your development as a person?

And sometimes, we must reassure students that in choosing the next path, often there is not a wrong choice. Higher education is a great gift, and while the possibilities are endless, they do not need to be paralyzing. Most students can be happy at many different places, so perhaps the most important message is this one: The possibilities are boundless, but whichever one you choose, be there with your whole self. Dive in, explore every opportunity at that place, and don’t look back. More than the college or university you choose, it is what you make of that one possibility – what you do while there – that matters most. By making connections with peers and mentors, involving yourself in academic ventures, participating in activities related to your many interests and passions, and taking a few risks to try new things, you will grow and change in whatever new community you choose. It is important to find your place and make your own mark on your new institution, looking for possibilities where you are. And, in this way, you create more possibilities for yourself in the future.