The following is a guest post by Sophie Maddox. Sophie can be reached at sophie.maddox03@gmail.com and her blog is http://www.sophiemaddox.com. Enjoy.

Smith CollegeOkay so the house is finally less noisy, at least somewhat, you’ve said good bye waiving as the bus pulls away so your sweet little one can begin his education.

Or perhaps your little one isn’t so young any more, perhaps they just left for college.

Standing there the questions come flooding back, now what do you do? You’ve thought about furthering your own career, but you’re not sure how to go about it.

Well, right now would be the perfect time to focus on you for a bit.

The several hours of peace will soon be over, so let’s not wait until the house is noisy again.

Getting a career back on track or starting a new one can be a huge challenge. Education is the key to get it started, so let’s break down the process and make it simple.

1. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, and a pen and let’s think…

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when I ask you to describe your dream career?

Important! Don’t hesitate on this one; if more than one thing comes to mind write it down too.

2. Now, let’s begin an online search for colleges that offer these subjects, and then narrow it down by what you need.

How do you know exactly what you need?

Great question!

Well what would make college work for you? Think about your life, family, schedule etc

  • Campus classes
  • Online classes
  • Flexibility?
  • Cost?
  • Is classroom size important?
  • College reputation

Keep in mind that these are just a few areas to begin the process so you can  narrow the choices down to a few based on which ones fit you the best.

3. Next, have a list of questions related to the initial set of criteria you’ve put together and talk to an Admissions Advisor and get the answers to your questions.

You may find that your list narrows even further, and that’s no problem, this is exactly what we want. Ideally the process will help you select two to three and begin the admissions process for these schools.

Make sure you have your top three choices; as part of this process generally one will stand out more than the others. But you want to be accepted to more than one. This way the ball’s in your court and you can choose which college you want to go to rather than only being accepted to just one and not having as much of a choice

Guess what?

The best part is that this blog has so many resources and advice that many of your detailed questions can be answered here. So take a look at the various categories and topics related to Admissions, Financial Aid, and Testing and these will really help you get into college and a new career.

To Your Success!

If you would like help finding the best college for you or your student, I offer a FREE 1/2 hour consultation to discuss your needs for college admissions counseling. Give me a call now at 952-449-5245 or drop me an email.