So You’re Thinking About College

About Me

For my undergrad, I majored in computer science and engineering physics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and graduated in 2002. I worked as a software engineer specializing in high performance user interfaces for 15 years in the trading industry and then moved into management. To be the best leader possible, I went back to school and graduated with an Executive MBA in December 2020 from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Due to COVID-19, I completed the second half of that program virtually rather than in person. I’ve been working for the past four years as a Director of IT at GATX Corporation, a railcar leasing company. Outside of my job, I like to visit aquariums and museums, put together jigsaw puzzles, and spend time with my friends and family. I lived in the Chicago area my entire life until two months ago when I moved to Virginia Beach, VA.

Ask for Advice

Deciding which college to go to and what to major in for your undergraduate degree (aka bachelor’s degree) can be overwhelming. A great way to make it less scary is to talk to people who are doing interesting things that you might like to do. Most adults are flattered when someone says that they want to follow in their footsteps. Ask them what they like and dislike about their career. What type of people excel there? What are the different opportunities that are available that aren’t so obvious?

It can feel like picking the “wrong” college or major can derail your entire future. However, remember that almost all decisions you make can be changed. If a situation is not going well, it’s fine (and desirable!) to recognize that, take a step back, and make a course correction. With that in mind, here is advice that I’ve given to high school students over the years when they’ve asked me about applying to college.

Pick a Major

What interests you? What do you want to do when you’re an adult? Since you’re a part of MAGIC, you might want to pursue a STEM degree. I recommend picking a major that is a good stepping stone, but slightly uncommon, to where you want to end up. For example, if you want to be a doctor, consider majoring in biomedical engineering rather than biology. If you want to be a lawyer, an undergraduate degree in engineering will differentiate you from most of the other people applying to law school.

Do you want to make a lot of money? It’s perfectly fine to say that you want a career with a high salary potential. If that’s the case and you like to solve problems, you could be a software engineer or data scientist after majoring in computer science. Technology is now used everywhere across both the public (aka government) and private (aka for-profit) sectors. There are many different paths available, so once you have a solid foundation, you can leverage your passions into a career.

Choose a College or University

Do you want to attend a large public university or a small liberal arts college? Do you love music, dance or theater so that a specialized creative arts school appeals to you? Do you want to stay close to home or go across the country? What kind of extracurricular activities would you like to join?

When I was choosing where to go for my undergrad degree, I wanted a college that was 1) larger than my high school (which was about 3000 people) and 2) far enough away from my parents so they couldn’t pop by for a surprise visit, but close enough that they could drive to see me in an emergency. I always loved math and science classes, so I knew that I wanted to major in engineering. So taking into account where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do, I applied to two large public state universities and a few smaller private engineering schools.

Being a young woman in STEM can be isolating. It helps to surround yourself with women who will support you. Look for colleges that have chapters of national associations focused on women in STEM such as the Society of Women Engineers or National Center for Women & Information Technology.

Apply for Financial Aid

When looking at how much school will cost, include living expenses such as housing and groceries as well as education-related expenses such as tuition, fees, and books. If you can, try to minimize your student debt so that you’ll have less to pay back after graduating. There are multiple types of financial aid available for higher education — aid directly from the university, public and private scholarships, federal student loans, and private student loans. You can mix and match the different forms, but if you have a choice, always prefer the ones with lower interest rates.

When you’re picking a college, look at the financial aid packages that they provide. Universities offer scholarships, work study loans, and grants. Your decision about where to attend should be heavily influenced by which school says they’ll give you the most financial assistance. Most of the time you won’t know what the university will do until after you’ve been accepted.

Apply for every scholarship that you’re eligible for. Eligibility can be based on many things — chosen field of study, gender, race or ethnicity, country of origin, career path, the state where you live, associations that your parents or other relatives belong to. There are a lot of scholarships in the $500 — $2000 range sponsored by private organizations. They usually don’t have many applicants so the odds of winning them are pretty good. If you get enough smaller scholarships, they add up quickly.

Fill out the Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form with help from your parents. This will make you eligible for federal student loans. There are some federal loan programs that forgive outstanding debt after a certain period of time if you go into public service after you graduate, but there is a lot of fine print. Be careful when looking at those programs and don’t assume that you won’t need to pay back the debt.

Private loans are offered by banks and have the highest interest rates. While it’s not fair, ideally the amount of these loans should be based on your expected earning power after graduation. If you plan to enter a field with high earning potential, then it’s generally safer to take out more private loans. For example, many doctors have debt in the 6 figures because the assumption is that they’ll be able to easily pay them back within 10 years of graduating medical school.

Once You Get There

Be okay with changing majors if it turns out not to be what you expected. Revisit your decisions as you learn new information. The ability to self-reflect will serve you well throughout your life.

Make friends who are different from you. Join organizations on campus. Take advantage of the free and discounted tickets offered to students to attend sporting events, theater shows, concerts, etc.

Drop classes when they’re not working out. If the professor teaches in a way that means you aren’t learning, most of the time it’s fine to drop that class and take it again the next semester (always talk to your advisor before dropping a course).

Create a resume and practice interviewing. Have a part-time job during the school year. On-campus jobs understand that your schoolwork should take priority for you, while off-campus jobs help prepare you for working life after college.

Apply for summer internships in an industry you’d like to work in or a job you think you’d like. This is the time to experiment so that hopefully you’ll find what you want to do after graduation.

Most importantly, have fun! This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you should enjoy it.

Good luck as you begin your college journey!