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For some lucky 17-year-olds, the end of the year is the day they make a big decision, one that goes way beyond the norm for 17-year-olds.
A four-year college education in the United States can cost close to $500,000, considering the costs and opportunities that come with it. It can change our personalities, our learning, and above all the systems we live in for the rest of our lives…
One way to make complex decisions of this scale is to radically simplify them. First, I can vividly explain the flavors, factors, and preferences that go into your choices (I’ve heard all of these from students I’ve coached and spent time with), and then you can weed them out.
- i like the weather there
- There are recycling bins all over campus.
- The tour guide who showed us around was cute/charming/friendly
- I think football games are fun.
- Even my high school classmates will be impressed.
- much cheaper than alternatives
- It’s expensive so it must be better
- maybe start a soccer team
- I grew up watching that school team on TV.
- I hear they have a really good math program
- It’s close to home so laundry will be easy.
- It’s far from home, so I don’t spend much time at home.
- my parents went there
- my parents didn’t go there
- it feels right
- I’m tired of it and I have to end it.
- It was difficult to enter, but I felt a sense of accomplishment.
- It was difficult to enter and I felt scared.
- The career guidance counselor said it was a “good” school.
- Someone I know has heard about this school.
- I know exactly what I want to do for a living and this is the perfect place to start that journey
Many of these are matters of short-term preference, the kind of things you bring up when everything else feels the same or you’re afraid to take a closer look at the real issue. In my case, I chose which college to attend based on the radio stations I heard (or didn’t hear) when I visited the campus.
Here you can take a different perspective and expand your insight into adult decisions such as where to work, where to live, and with whom to play. There are two parts of him:
- Are the people here the kind of people I want to spend time with and get to know better?
- Are the systems in place here to push, coax, or manipulate people into becoming more of the people I want to be?
that’s it.
It doesn’t matter if the campus is clean or the football team is good. It doesn’t matter if it’s sunny or sunny on the day you visit. But…unless those factors are the ones that attract and retain the people you had in mind in #1.
Having a good liquor store on campus does not make a party school a party school. This is a party school because the combination of #1 and #2 creates a self-perpetuating system.
Once you have answered these two questions, choose the least expensive option to reach your destination.
This will probably feel like a big decision because it’s about you. But it’s not really about you right now. It’s about who you want to be.
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