The thought of choosing a college Essay Example for Free

The thought of choosing a college Essay The future, begins, now! Why? Because now, the thought of choosing a college has entered the minds of students and now, students have to make a choice between some colleges. They are striving on choosing the perfect college that best fits them. The hardest part of choosing a college is making sure the students are alert to the differences between some options, which in this case are four-year college and community college. The decision between which college to attend is difficult for some students to decide, so some things they should consider are, the prices, the courses for the students decided major and lastly, the admission requirements. After taking notice of these 3 aspects, community college by far is the better college to attend. Community college is much less expensive than a four-year college because it doesn’t require travel expenses or home expenses like property taxes and mortgage interest. On average, it only requires a 15-30 minute drive to the college, which is delightful, considering the fact that students are usually closer to home and only paying for gas! According to RCBC, the cost for one year at college is approximately $2,000.00, but some other things that might have to be paid for are, general fees, technology fees, and enrollment fees. Some other fees that may have to pay for include a $25 application fee, $50 late registration fee and special course fees. Something to take notice of is the credit hours; a full-time undergraduate student must have over 12 or more credit hours per term. However many credit hours taken will determine how much the cost will be at all. So basically the things being paid for tuition, all the fees and however many credit hours that have been decided. Lastly, the costs will vary depending on whether the student is a resident, out of state student or an out of county student. Who wouldn’t want to go to a community college for less money and still get the same education as they would in a four-year college? For the students that don’t know what major fits them, then community college is the perfect college to attend for their first couple of years. When students are not certain about the major they want to study in than four-year college is not their best option for their first two years of college. If students are trying to find out what they\re most passionate in than community college is the way to go because community college gives students the chance to find out exactly what interests them (‘Choosing A College†1). Yes, it is true that community college doesn’t offer as much as a four-year college does, but students should consider how much it can actually help them. The professors at community colleges give all the students the education needed and going to a community college will also help them earn all the credits they will need for the future. By â€Å"the future† meaning that, if they want they can transfer from a community college to a four-ye ar college with having all the credits and required courses out of the way. Then for the rest of the years, the students will just focus on their decided major. But, they need to make sure the credits are transferable so that they will count it in the next college attended. In summary, going to community college for the first two years and getting all of the courses out of the way is without a doubt, the best intention for those undecided of their majors. For the students that are beginning to decide on the college they want to attend, they must meet the admission requirements. â€Å"In certain cases, some schools will offer admission to students with low college entrance scores† (â€Å"Choosing A College† 2). This means that many schools will allow the students who haven’t met the required admissions to attend but that \s only in some cases. RCBC requires a graduate that has received their high school diploma and those who had a â€Å"successful completion,† which is grades better than C’s. The undergraduate or graduate must succeed in all courses with a C or grades higher than a C average. â€Å"Achievements of an RCBC cumulative Gpa of 2.5 or greater at the time of admission† (RCBC 1).So, it is obvious that students must have a diploma and a GPA of 2.5 or greater to attend community college. All in all, in order to attend the college of the scholars choice, they must follow the admission re quirements so they are able to attend. Four-year colleges are incredibly expensive due to the prices of housing, food, and even everyday life things. Now that some students live in a dorm or an apartment they will have to buy extra for the food and all the crazy things college kids like to buy for their dorms. If they decide to go to a college in the state they live in then they’re considered a resident so, according to The College Of New Jersey, the tuitions and fees would roughly be.. $16,000.00, but that’s not all. The total cost for one year is relatively close to $29,000.00. If they’re not a resident than the tuition and fees would be close to $27,000.00, and for a whole year it is around $40,000.000. â€Å"State and local governments subsidize(financially support) public schools, allowing lower tuition costs† (â€Å"Choosing A College† 1). A few of the fees that are required to pay for would be, student Service fee, capital fee, Computing Access fee, Student Center fee and Student Activity fee. In all, going to a four-year college is clearly more expensive than going to a community college. For those that already know what they want to major in, then for them, four-year college is the better college to attend. Four-year colleges offer a wider range of majors to study and offers a bigger variety of degrees to receive. But, before they choose any college they must determine whether or not the college of their choice offers the programs needed for them to succeed in their major. â€Å"Two of the most important decisions faced by students contemplating postsecondary education is where to attend college and what major to choose â€Å"(Eric R. Eide, Michael J. Hilmer and Mark H. Showalter 1). Clearly, one of the biggest parts of attending any college is being able to choose the major that fits them now, in 5 years, 10 years, and so on. To conclude, this one big decision they make will dramatically change their future, and it will hopefully be for the best. â€Å"The key point is finding out what path will be most beneficial to you†(â€Å"Choosing A College† 2) . When attending to a four-year college student must acknowledge the fact that four-year colleges are definitely harder to get accepted into.â€Å"If the student\s SAT score is 900 and the school\s average is 1300, then the student should think twice about their college of choice† (â€Å"Choosing a College† 2). It is obvious that to get into a college you need the required school average in order to attend. The thing about enrolling in a four-year college is whether or not you enroll as a matriculated student or a non-matriculated student. A matriculated student is a student that registers to a certain school as a student and a non-matriculated student is a student that only goes to school for a short amount of time, so they only attend classes part-time and they can only register to take 12 or fewer credit hours. According to TCNJ, â€Å"Individuals applying for matriculation are expected to hold a bachelor\s degree for proof of equivalent preparation to a foreign colle ge or university† (â€Å"Graduate Studies† 2). This basically means that students who are applying to be a student at their college of choice should have their required degrees in order to go elsewhere. In all, the admission requirements to get into a four-year college can be very complicated depending on where the student decides to go and how the student enrolls themselves.