The College Fair is a great place to get started
You've read the articles so now it's time to get into COLLEGE! We're talking tuition, rolling admission, SAT's, student-teacher ratio, visas, student accommodations… don't worry - it only seems confusing. OK, well maybe it is confusing.
But that's what the Bermuda International College and University Fair is here for! So give your texting fingers a break and step into your future… Brought to you by the Ministry of Education and Development, along with the Bermuda College, the Bermuda Careers Centre, and The Bermuda Hospitals Board the College Fair can put you in touch with a wide range of colleges and universities from the US, West Indies, UK and Canada. You and your family can take advantage of the information sessions, learn more about scholarships and get down to discussing what the world of higher education has to offer you.
Now is the time for YOU to have your own 'College Hill' experience (but with less partying and actual work being done of course). And yes, it is going to take some effort to make it happen.
It begins and ends with research. Before you even look at what's out there, you need to think about a few personal factors, specifically:
* How much can you realistically afford to pay? Of course there are scholarships available, and you don't want to limit yourself if you don't have any funds. But it helps to have a budget in mind as well.
* What programmes are you interested in? If you haven't figured this out, speaking to a guidance/career counsellor could really help. Many students change majors during college, so it's not the end of the world if you start a programme and then decide it isn't for you, but you should still have SOME idea before you start.
* Where in the world do you want to go? Historically, most Bermudians travelled to the US and Canada for university, and we found mainly law students heading off to the UK. But now that we are able to take advantage of the drastically lower fees offered to UK students, tons more Bermudians are heading over to England, Scotland, and Wales. When deciding where to study consider:
* Cost of living. The tuition is low, but the Ramen noodles are $6!
* Community/Culture. If the highlight of this town is the Saturday night snail race, perhaps you should keep looking.
* Travel expenses. You won't be popping home every holiday or getting visitors if the plane tickets are too costly. Or was that your plan all along?
* Climate. C'mon, you've never even SEEN snow!
Now that you know what you are looking for, you can go find it! Thank goodness for the Internet! No flipping through "1001 Colleges and Universities - Volume K-M" for you. Instead check out these websites:
www.australian-universities.com
www.boarding-school-finder.com
Whether you want a school in an urban environment that offers advanced cello, and has an honours programme in zoology or if you want to see what colleges offer certifications in masonry, these sites will help you. Petersons.com and Collegeboard.com allow you to enter your search criteria from their vast and varied menus, and will show you only the colleges that match.
Then, once you create a list of the schools you want to look into, visit the individual university websites to find out everything you need to know. What's the housing like? What are the criteria for international students? Is the programme accredited (way important!)? And most importantly, 'is that freshman psychology class ONLY offered at 8:30a.m.?!'
Narrow your list down to the schools that most closely match with all of the crucial issues. You should choose five - eight colleges to apply to, including at least one college on your list that you think you probably won't get into. These sorts of schools may have an acceptance rate of lower than 30 per cent, which means you wouldn't be alone in being rejected. It's important that you set your sights high, and that means perhaps a few rejection letters will roll in. But, as they say for the Lotto, "Hey, you never know…" And you'll certainly never know if you don't try.
So now that your interests and goals have been established it's time to get to know some of the schools that best fits your needs and to get, or keep, the application ball rolling.
See you at the Fair!
