Should Colleges Be Looked At Sooner?

Is Middle School too early to be looking at colleges? I used to think so, until I had to do it for myself. Looking into college before getting to high school has more benefits than it does negatives, and I would definitely suggest it.

One of the most beneficial things would be how you look at your grades. Looking into colleges sooner and seeing the GPA you need to get into them would motivate you. I didn’t look into colleges early, and I did the bare minimum my Freshman year, which hurt my chances of getting academic awards, better scholarships, and getting into better schools. My GPA now is sitting around 3.5, but if I had that one extra year of going above and beyond, I would be in a much better situation currently. This is just one reason looking into colleges early will benefit you.

Another benefit is not rushing towards the end. High School is a lot more stressful than middle school, so looking into these colleges early will take something off your plate. From personal experience, I took too long to look into my options, and ended up being extremely unprepared and it limited my options. Now this may not be the case for most people, but if you looked into them earlier and often, it wouldn’t be the case for hopefully anyone.

One last benefit is that it shows these colleges you are dedicated and motivated for that next step. They pay attention more than most people think, and this will definitely help. Seeing children at that young age look into this will show these colleges that you are a good student, with an open mind ready to learn. This will put you in an extremely good position to succeed, and hopefully earn you more scholarships. Starting looking early can almost never hurt you, but will always have benefits there.

Some may say starting so early may burn these kids out, or be useless because where they want to go will always be changing. While it may be true that their minds will change, that shouldn’t be an issue. Exposing them to this sooner will allow for a more healthy and easier transition, and changing your mind isn’t a bad thing. As for getting burnt out by this, I will say that these children wouldn’t be ready for college anyways. College is a big step and a lot harder, but if you can’t handle the process of choosing, maybe it isn’t the right decision for you.

I believe it would be beneficial to start looking into college sooner. Starting at the end of 8th grade is enough time to motivate you to do well your freshman year of high school, as well as be prepared when it comes time to make that decision for college. It’s something I wish I did, and I would encourage those serious about their future and kids futures to do the same.

Featured Image: “college icon” by Backdoor Survival is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.