Advice for choosing a school
By virtue of their jobs, service members generally are a very goal-oriented lot. It’s a trait that will serve well those who are preparing to start earning a higher-education degree.
I just finished a college roadmap story for an upcoming issue of Military Times EDGE. In reporting the story, I had the opportunity to speak at length with numerous military education experts regarding their must-do advice for those entering, or returning to, the college classroom. First on everyone’s lips: Goals.
Consider this goal-oriented advice from the experts:
“Figure out what your goals are and figure out how a particular institution is going to help you achieve your goals,” said Sean-Michael Green, author of the book “Marching to College: Turning Military Experience into College Admissions.” “See if (a) school will be able to help you get where you want to go.”
Ask yourself what you want to be “when you grow up,” advises Charles Sidell, president of the Florida Advisory Council on Military Education. “With military people, they are very goal- and mission-oriented,” Sidell said. “What you have to do (as an adviser) is find out what their short-term goals are, as well as their long-term goals. If you focus strictly on the short-term, you might advise them a particular way and satisfy their immediate need but not necessarily what their long-range plans are.”
Figure out what you want your education to get you, said Julia O’Dell, president of the board of the National Association of Veterans Upward Bound Project Personnel and associate director of the University of Kansas Veterans Upward Bound. Some schools are strong in one program, others excel at something else. What you decide you want to do should influence where you want to consider going to school.
“A person has to do one of those Covey principles, ‘Begin with the end in mind,’” said Randy Plunkett, director of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education’s Commission on Military Education and Training. Want a bachelor’s degree to be your “end,” for example? Then consider how you want to earn it.
