Never too early to start getting ready for college, kids say

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NEVER TOO EARLY TO START GETTING READY FOR COLLEGE, KIDS SAY

October 31, 1994

If you're not in high school yet, you probably think you are too young to be thinking about college. However, some college administrators say it is never too early to start.

We recently talked to a group of middle school students about how much they are preparing for college.

WHAT IS COLLEGE?

BEN, 13: My idea of college is education, where you learn to get a job and you learn to do a certain job and then you still have to get the job.

MELISSA, 13: College is a place where you meet lots of people and get lots of dates.

ERIC, 13: I think college is a place where you sit in a desk and listen to professors give lectures and take notes and then take tests.

GEORGE, 11: If you want to have something to do in the world or just have a real good thing to do when you grow up and instead of asking people, "Would you like fries with that?" then I guess you have to go to college.

GOAL FOR COLLEGE

ERIN, 13: I am very much intending to go to college. I don't really think anything is going to stop me.

MELISSA: I definitely am going to college, and I want to go to Purdue and have a double major in journalism and electrical engineering.

BEN: One thing about getting plans too early, I mean, that's cool and all but if you plan your life out to even college . . . you're bound to get disappointed some day. And that's why I think you have to try hard but not set your goal on one small thing.

GEORGE: I want to go to Illinois or Purdue because I want to be a pilot, and there's not that many aeronautic schools. So I just want to go to one of those two places.

ERIC: I don't have any plans for college because I think you have to wait until you find out what you've done in high school and what the standards are because a lot of things can change in four or five years.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

ERIN: I think the most important (thing) is education. If that college is like a clown-around college and you really don't think you're going to get anywhere, then I don't think that I would choose it, personally.

MELISSA: What I would look for to determine a college is courses they would offer in what I want to do, what their expectations are . . . and basically their reputation.

BEN: I think it's like when you're in kindergarten you want to be a fireman or Farmer Bob or something. . . . Most people look at it like what they want to be now . . . Important factors in picking a college are that you've got to make sure that you'll be happy and you'll be fulfilled.

ERIN: I kinda want to go to Notre Dame to be a doctor or something like that in the medical field. . . . I think I will because I kinda have the grades.

PREPARATIONS

ERIC: I think right now we're making our preparation for high school, which will prepare us for college.

BEN: I'm really personally taking this day by day. I heard that colleges don't look at your middle school record. I'm trying to get in the habit of getting good grades.

ERIN: I think the main preparation for all of us is that we get good grades really. I mean, I think that we're all kind of focused on that even if we don't really admit it. I think we're all kind of bummed out if we get an F on something.

GEORGE: I have a lot of high grades in math. And I think I'll make it. . . . I'm just trying to make sure that my grades are fairly high. But that's all I can do.

MELISSA: I also think that activities are really important because if you just focus on your grades and that's all you do . . . colleges really don't want that. I mean you might be a 4.0 all the time, but I really think that if you want to get into a college you need to have a few activities that you do also.

BEN: The people that get into college have the motivation to learn how. The motivation is the thing. It's not so much your academics, it's your motivation. I think you just set your mind to it.

ERIN: I really think that high school does prepare you for college.

BEN: I won't be surprised if I get selected but you know I might go to a college and within a few days decide that I don't like it. I'll keep going around to different colleges until I find one I know that I'll be happy at.

DOES COLLEGE GUARANTEE A JOB?

BEN: If you don't go to college, you're in for a pretty boring life.

GEORGE: It's like comparing being a businessman to working at McDonald's or Taco Bell.

MELISSA: I think that college guarantees you a better job, but I also think that there are a lot of really intelligent people that have gone to college out there that are homeless or they have really bad jobs. . . .

It depends on what your major is and what you are good in and what your skills are.

ERIN: I think college guarantees you an education.

I think that if you screw college up, then you mess your whole life up.

APPRECIATING COLLEGE

ERIN: I don't know about you guys, but I really think that $18,000 for one year is a whole lot of money. If you really think about it . . . if you're a teacher or something - I'm like guessing - (you make) like $30,000 a year. That's a major chunk.

BEN: A lot of people that go to college don't realize how lucky they are. . . . A huge majority of the population of the world doesn't get to go to college. A big chunk don't have running water. A lot more don't even know how to read.

I think that's just an important thing to remember.

ERIN: I think that if you're like, "Oh college, no big deal. I can get through life without going to college," I think you're not really appreciating what it can do for you.

What do you think?/Do you think college is important? Why?
	"Yes, because you'll get a better education and a better career." April Keller, 11 Wanamaker Elementary Indianapolis "Yes, because you'll get to accomplish more things in life." Nicole Box, 12 George Rogers Clark School Vincennes "I think college is important so you can get an education and go somewhere in life. You can get a PhD and become a doctor." Brett Addy, 11 Moores Hill
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