Choosing a College: How to tell if a College is Right for You
Jump to Cost | Academics | Connections | The Rest
So you’ve gotten in – and to more than one college! Congratulations! The toughest part (the application process) is over, and now the fun part starts. However, this decision can often feel just as stressful. Where you choose to go will impact the next four years of your life and beyond. So how do you decide? If you applied for colleges based on whether they would be a good fit, then you might see yourself at any of the options you’re accepted to. Let’s talk about how to narrow it down.
Instead of emphasizing a school’s reputation, you should put the heaviest emphasis on finding the place that would be best for you. Where you go to school should be a place which will serve you well in the transition to college and beyond.
Cost
One of the biggest factors which you’re probably considering when choosing your college is the cost. Even if you’ve already made some estimates, getting an acceptance letter – and the financial aid package – make it more real and more detailed. As the acceptances begin to arrive, take time to develop a detailed budget for each school you’re considering. You should include tuition, room and board (rent and food), transportation, and textbook fees. Transportation is important to remember especially if you’re taking a car and/or going somewhere across the country. Flying, driving, or taking buses should all factor in. After adding up these standard expenses, also do some research to see if you can find the average debt that students have upon graduation from each school.
Careful research when considering the cost of college is crucial. The college that has the best value–in both quality and price–is the one that might be right for you. Compare your financial aid letters side by side, considering the conditions of scholarships and loans including repayment, merit requirements, and more. College debt is hefty and considering how much you’re able to take on is no small matter. The commitment you’re making has the potential to last decades, so if no school meets your needs, don’t be afraid to try and negotiate.
Academics
While cost is often the first factor, academics should be the second. If you have a very specific or very general idea of what you might want to study, or even a few ideas, look more into the colleges you’ve been accepted to and consider their majors. More than that, consider specific programs they offer that intrigue you. If you’re even a little bit interested in STEM, rule out any humanities-only colleges, and the same for if you’re considering anything aside from a STEM degree. Engineering and other STEM-specific colleges are rigorous and if you’re still deciding, liberal arts colleges with strong STEM programs or large research universities are a great way to go. You want your college to be a solid investment of your time and of your money. If you know what major you want to pursue, or what general area, there’s a good chance you only applied to schools which offer strong academics in that area. In that case, take a closer look at the course schedules, email faculty members, look at what graduates of that field from each college are doing. Also, remember to be open to the possibility of changing your major when you start college—if you think there’s a possibility you might, make sure to choose a school with strengths in a variety of different fields.
The second branch of academic success you should consider when choosing a college is postgraduate success. College typically is a four-year journey with the destination being the workforce or graduate school–while it may seem far away now, you need to be aware of each school’s success rate for its graduates before committing. You go to college to learn, of course, but in addition, your college should prepare you for success after graduation. See if the colleges you’re choosing from have strong work-study programs, internships/co-op opportunities, job placement assistance, and a good alumni network. These are all critical resources that will help you when the time comes. You can and should also see the four-year graduation rate. While the four-year degree is standard, your specific college career may differentiate, and you should know what support is available for students like you who may be prepared to graduate in three or five years. If you’re interested in going to graduate school, check out what each school’s placement rates are. See if there are any partnerships which could work for you and if these are with schools you’d want to go to in the future–no matter how far away it is.
Connections
Connections you have to a college can also be an important factor. Whether someone in your family or friendship network has gone to the school, if it’s where your favorite author graduated from, or a politician who inspires you, connections can be important to your decision-making process. However, the connections you already have are often as important as the connections you will make. If you’re struggling with the decision of where to go, making connections can be a good way to help.
At each school you’ve applied to, you’ve likely been assigned a specific admissions counselor, whether it’s separated by geographic region or potential major or something else. This person is a great resource to ask your most technical questions, whether they’re about specific numbers or financial aid advice or almost anything else. While they are biased towards their schools, they’ll also give you information that might not be available on google.
Many schools also offer emails of students who you can talk to. This can be a great help in getting information about student life or the students’ perspective on specific fields and opportunities the colleges offer. If there isn’t an easily available place to email a student, the admissions counselors are usually more than willing to connect you to someone who would be a good fit for you to talk with.
The responsiveness of the college and its employees is also something important to consider. Are they just as quick at answering emails after they’ve accepted you, or do you wait for a response for weeks? That can be a good indication of the kind of support you may receive when you arrive at a specific institution – the ones who respond right away without any specific commitment from you are probably the ones who will extend and bolster that support once you attend the school.
The Rest
If it’s possible for you, attending admitted students programs and/or visiting the campuses again can be something game-changing for your decision. It’s likely that your campus tours and information sessions were both general and a while ago. You’ll have different questions now and might want to see more than just the pre-prepared dormitory. Visiting the college again can make it less of a curated experience and let you see more of the college. While there are different policies right now at each school due to the pandemic, it’s likely you can walk around campuses on your own and ask any questions to those walking past you.
You may have small schools as well as big ones in your final list, but there is a huge difference in these types of schools. Big schools typically have bigger endowments, stronger athletics and Greek presences, and larger campuses and classes. Smaller schools often have more specific major options, smaller student to teacher ratios, and dedicated alumni networks. There are pros and cons to both types of schools, but the odds are that you’ll feel way more comfortable at one than the other. Consider the size of your high school and how you liked that, and how the factors that led you to that opinion might be different in a collegiate context.
Extracurricular activities, while maybe not your deciding factor, are also important to consider. If you have a passion for community service, location matters, as it does for specific sports. Greek presence, good sports teams, and opportunities to design your own clubs and extracurriculars are all factors that can be critical to some students and that you should be aware of when making your decision. Like with academic programs, there might be emails listed on specific clubs’ or sports teams’ websites so you can reach out with specific questions.
Speaking of the pandemic, we know it’s something that is continually being called ‘unprecedented,’ but at this point, colleges and universities should have relatively stable responses. That being said, ask the schools you’re considering what their responses were at the beginning of it. The way a college responds to a global crisis is not something that should be taken lightly. Mutual Aid Funds, free room and board for students who couldn’t go home, virtual classroom options for students who couldn’t come back–all of these have been critically important to students during the last few years, and you should know what the schools’ policies have been in order to decide if their morals, values, and actions align with yours.
Trust yourself. Your college counselor, your teachers, your friends, parents, and maybe even neighbors will undoubtedly have a say in where you go. While it helps to have input, at the end of the day, the decision is yours. If a college is all perfect on paper but the prospect of going there doesn’t quite excite you, listen to your gut. You’re the one who will be attending the school, doing the homework, and reaping the rewards. Try to worry less about making the ‘right’ decision and more about making your decision. And if it takes some of the stress off, remember that no decision has to be final. Even if you’ve done all the research and made the choice you believe to be right, a college might not fit once you’re actually attending it. Changing your major, different financial situations, location, and more are all reasons students choose to transfer colleges. The decision you’re about to make is really important, but if you feel you’ve made the wrong choice, gap years and transferring are always options.
All in all, this is an exciting but uneasy time. The best advice we can give is to make a choice and get hyped about it! You’ve made it in–the best parts are still on the way.
