Overcoming Overwhelm: Find the Right College for You

Whether you are a first-time freshman, transfer student, or a potential graduate school student, you will be faced with the question of how to find the RIGHT college for you. With the large number of schools throughout the United States, our diverse staff of education professionals, therapists, life coaches, and independent living specialists at Optimum Performance Institute (OPI) works with students to help them navigate through their choices and find the best fit.

Our Education Department runs a six-week Student Success Seminar to helping students identify what they are looking for in a college or university. A few factors to think about when making your decision that we can work on more deeply with you:

• School size/class size: Do you succeed in large lecture style classes or smaller sized classes where teachers know your name? Do you want a school where you can walk or ride a bike to every class or would you rather drive or take a bus?
• Majors and programs offered: Does the school offer at least 5 programs you would be interested in? Is there a graduate school option? Is the major you want to apply for impacted?
• Location, Location, Location: Consider the proximity to home, rural vs. urban, or beach vs. mountains.
• Sports Teams/Inter-mural Sports: Are you into sports and staying active?
• Affordability: What kind of grants and scholarships are offered? Will you need financial aid?
• Greek Life: Does the Greek system work against you in college? Is it too much of a distraction or does the sister/brotherhood of sororities help you feel like you are a part of something?
• On campus clubs/support groups: Does the school offer great opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities? Are there support groups such as AA or NA?
• Disability services: What services do they offer students who need accommodations? Do they offer students a supportive environment?

Once students have a list of the criteria they are looking for, we can help them begin narrowing down the list of schools they will apply to.

Our education department spends a significant amount of time helping students to research school websites, reviews, and blogs to help determine if the school is the right fit. We highly encourage campus visits and work with together to set up campus and department tours so that they can “feel” what it would be like to be on campus. Participants have been on local campus tours at California State University of Northridge, California Lutheran University, and Pepperdine University.

Deciding on a school to both apply to and attend is a huge decision. It has to be a place students want to be AND be a place where they can be the most successful. These factors help to overcome failure to launch issues tied into many of the anxieties around starting, attending, and completing a college education.
by Jessie Steinber, MS, Director of Education

For more information on OPI residential and intensive outpatient programs and our measures to help reduce Failure to Launch obstacles for young adults wanting to pursue and complete a college education, call us at (888) 814-5985 or click HERE to submit an online form. We’ll be in touch promptly.