Undecided on Your College? Try Guided Visualization

This article first appeared in GoLocalPDX.com on April 1, 2015.

As the May 1 decision date looms closer, many students are still undecided about which school is the best fit. See my previous column about why this is no longer an intellectual decision.

One technique that has been very effective at helping my students decide is guided visualization. Before the visualization do the following:

1. Narrow the list to three schools you are choosing between (more is too many for your psyche to handle)

2. If at all possible, visit all three (whether it is the first time or a repeat visit)

The visits may be enough to help you decide. If not, ask a parent or friend to talk you through this scenario for each of the three schools.

• Sit comfortably in a relaxing spot
• Take 18 deep breaths
• Picture the school you are considering
• Imagine yourself at orientation
• Introduce yourself to three freshmen, and listen carefully as they introduce themselves to you
• Go with your three new friends to a spot on campus you like
• Share something you hope to get out of your college experience and tell them why you chose X college. Listen as they do the same
• Go early to a class to meet with a professor. Tell her/him about a research project idea you have and get her/his reaction
• Participate fully in a class. Pay special attention to the professor’s interactions with students and the student engagement in the classroom
• Go to the dining hall, grab some food, and sit with people you don't know. Join the conversation and pay attention to what is being discussed
• Go back to your dorm and connect with your roommate
• Go with your roommate into the dorm lounge and hang out with other students. Notice the interactions and activities
• Fast-forward to your college graduation. You are the valedictorian. In your speech, share your three favorite memories from your four years in college

Use the same guided imagery for each school you are considering. Do not talk about the experience until you have completed the visualization for all of the schools. How did you feel after each? Where could you most easily picture yourself for the next four years? My experience with students is that if you are willing to be honest with yourself (set aside outside pressures and thoughts about the prestige of each choice), you will instinctively know where you belong.