Students and parents may be concerned about college and how quickly it is coming up. It is a confusing time trying to figure out what colleges fit a student, and what the next steps will be in their life. Today I sat down with Alex Hansen, one of the school counselors and Carson Wheelwright, a student that goes to Ridgeline who is a senior getting ready for college to get their take on college and how to be well prepared.

First Alex Hansen, a counselor at Ridgeline High spoke about his opinion on college. “College is great for many purposes depending on whether you want an associates, bachelor or going to a career college”. He went on to say that college schools are fun. It is almost as if you are going into a think tank of learning and it is a fun environment to be around. He believes that college is something great to do in your life, it can help you find careers that suit you along with new friends.  He said there are many reasons to apply and go, including new learning opportunities, new friends and new jobs that will become available for you.

Application times will start very soon. Depending on the school some will start accepting applications this fall through winter but it varies depending on the school. Students should make sure to apply to many colleges as soon as possible to have choices on where they can accept to go.

Scholarships can help students with the price of college allowing for more learning and less stress about costs. Alex Hansen says, “Getting scholarships is another key for cutting down prices in college. They are very helpful.” There is a new app available called keys to success to help find new scholarships that students can find and apply for easily. Another option is retaking their ACT and SAT tests. Students can schedule dates and times with schools in the surrounding area that have them available.

A senior at Ridgeline, Carson Wheelwright says, “I think that I will end up going to Utah State but I have seen many options that I think would be great to go to.” He thinks that it is extremely important to go to college and doing so will, “make you smarter and able to do new things in your life.” College can give you many new career opportunities that are great to explore and help you advance to great things later on in life.