Hi Kayla!

I am so thrilled you are getting a head start on the college search! I started looking at schools when I was a junior and was all set to sign the paperwork before the spring semester of my senior year even started! It sure makes it a lot easier! That being said, there is no need to stress. You’re way ahead of schedule, you’re obviously not procrastinating, and there are people at every school you will look at who’s sole job is to help you make it out of the application process alive! So no worries 🙂 The University’s website is a FANTASTIC place to start when checking out a school. If the insitution has put effort and time into their website, it’s a good sign and will usually reflect quite a bit about the school. Howard Payne actually just launched their new website and it’s AWESOME. Although I am slightly biased 😉 But seriously, an official school website is a great source of free information and more often than not can give you some insight into what majors and programs the school is known for. Now, as for a major. Everyone and their dog will tell 87.9% of students change their major umpteen times before they graduate, so don’t focus on nailing down a detailed degree plan just yet. In another post I discuss what you should be looking for in a school so that when you do change majors you won’t have to transfer every time as well. BUT, you should have a general idea of what kind of majors the school offers and be interested in some of them so you have options. And everyone is different. You may wake up tomorrow and know indubitably that you want to be a scientist who studies Beluga Whales in Antarctica! Or, you could be like me and change your major two weeks into your freshman year! I would strongly encourage you to look at the different college transition advice posts on MyMajors, collegeboard.org is also a good place to get info about all things college-y, and also, college fairs are a GREAT way to see a lot of different schools in one place and talk to someone who has actually been there. Thanks so much for your questions! I hope that helps and you have a great day as well!

~Rachel

xoxo,
Kayla