Picking the right college can be very overwhelming. With over 4000 options to choose from, it’s hard to really decide where to spend the next chapter of your life. This blog is going to help you decide on which college is right for you.
I’m going to pose a couple of topics to consider when deciding on an institution of higher learning. I am assuming that you already got accepted to multiple colleges and you’re just looking for a way to narrow down the options.
For your viewing pleasure the video for this blog is below
Academics
This one is probably one of the most important ones. You want to make sure that the quality of your degree is going to be up to par with those receiving the same degree from other colleges.
The first thing you want to check is to make sure your school is accredited. For a lot of jobs and organizations they will not accept your degree unless it comes from a college or university that is accredited. The school I graduated undergrad from was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on College. This covered every degree that came out of my school
Individual degrees can also be accredited. Like my school of engineering was accredited by ABET, which is the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. This means that even if my individual school was not accredited. My engineering degree that I obtained was.
The second academic thing you want to look for is the graduation rate. This measures how many students who start at the school will eventually graduate. This is important because it can show you the quality of the school.
The higher the graduation rate means that if you invest your time and money in this school you will more than likely finish with your degree. This can be from resources, professors who are committed, or just the hard work that students give. A lower graduation rate means that something somewhere is not clicking with that school. And I would do more investigation into why the graduation rate is low.
Private vs. Public
Would you like to attend a private or a state school? This one is really up in the air, and is decided upon using other factors. Private schools are usually more expensive, and a lot smaller in scale. They give more scholarships but in comparison they are probably about the same cost as a state school with scholarships. Private schools are usually more prestigious for some reason. They can be older schools because they were started by someone instead of the government. They also mostly are liberal art colleges.
Public schools are your bigger schools, with more government funding. More people attend these schools because they offer more incentives for certain groups like the children of military veterans. They also offer more major options due to the vast majority of teachers, research, and students going to the school. Most public schools are accredited. They can also have a certain level of prestige which is important if you are going for a specific major.
Size
The size of the school is one of the bigger (or smaller…see what I did there) deciding factors for most students. Too big of a school and you can just become another number. Too small of a school and they might not offer as many resources as you need.
A bigger school means you will have a larger class size. To be fair, in most of your generic courses like math, science, history, English. The class sizes are going to be large. But if you research the average class size of the school and the number is too high, you could get lost in the wave of people that attend the school. The professors might not know the difference between your class and another class they teach. This could be a problem when you need to talk or meet with a professor and cant.
A smaller school means that you will know the professors on a more one on one level. You may be able to ask questions mid class and even be able to pop in on office hours without having to wait in a line. This also means that everyone on campus could know everyone. Which could be a good or bad thing depending on what you are doing.
I say go whichever way your heart desires. This number is just a number and at the end of the day your experience is going to be different and unique.
Campus Environment
You want to almost feel like you are at home when you are on campus, because you are going to be spending a lot of time there. So research and look for different amenities that the campus has. A rec, medical center, Chick-fil-A, this can be anything you want it to be. A college campus is like a small city and could have everything from a fire department to a spa. So look for all they have to offer.
The next thing is to check to see if they are a commuter school. A commuter school means that most of the students who go there live off campus and commute to campus for class and activities. This means that most of the students could live elsewhere, and most of the parties and social activities could be off campus as well. Some schools look like a ghost town on the weekends, and you want to make sure that if you live on campus you will have things to do besides sit in your room.
Talk to Current or Past Students
The best information is often from the source. So why not ask someone who has gone to the school you’re thinking about. You want to ask them everything you can think of. (and every topic in this blog)
Past students will let you know the ends and outs of campus and can give you pointers on things to do from when they attended. Oftentimes they would do certain things differently, and you don’t want to make the same mistake they made right?
Current students are even better because they are actively on campus, and experiencing everything that you are looking up on google trying to find. Even if you have to message some people from instagram. You want to be able to get the raw answers to some of the questions about the university instead of looking at the school website.
Distance
Do you want to leave your old hometown behind you and start anew? Then maybe you should choose the school over 1000 miles away. But if you are going to miss your parents cooking, it could be ok to choose the school that’s only 10 miles away.
The distance of the school from your old house is something I would think about before clicking that button. Some people like to travel home for the holidays or the three day weekends, but if you have to catch a flight every time to go home, then you would have to stay on campus a lot more than others and you have to be ok with that.
If you think your parents are going to be too attached to you if the school is too close then move somewhere where they can’t just pop up every time they feel like it. Nobody likes satellite parents and moving away from home can help you grow and develop on your own. It helps you grow into an adult because almost every decision you have to make is up to you.
You could also do what I did, which is go to the same school that’s in my city, but I acted like I was far away. I wouldn’t go back home for things, and I would only see my parents on Sundays at church. This gave me the freedom I needed while still reaping some of the benefits of still being close to home.
Money
I have to touch on this subject or it wouldn’t be a certified blog on my page. The biggest money consideration is going to be whether or not you are going to get charged in state, or out of state tuition. In-state tuition is a lot cheaper than out of state and it could make or break your decision to choose a school.
I would also say you need to choose the school that is going to give you the most money. Sometimes the hometown public school is only going to give you so much money. But that private school in the middle of nowhere is giving you a full ride. You have to weigh your own pros and cons, but money is the decision maker for a lot of people.
Rob’s Opinion
One thing in particular I looked for in a school was if they had community or en suite bathrooms in the dorms. Because I wasn’t trying to share a bathroom with everyone and their momma. And I wanted to stay in coed dorms (women and men).
Some personal advice I’m going to give you is don’t follow anyone to a certain school, whether that’s a friend or a significant other. You don’t want to be a follower. Because if that relationship ends then you will be stuck at that school without the primary reason you chose it.
Don’t choose a school just because your parents and siblings went there. You can always break a tradition. You aren’t your parents or your siblings, so their ideal school may not be the right fit for you and your dreams.
Just because I am an Alabama football fan, DOES NOT mean I need to go and attend the University of Alabama. They are a football school but if the main reason I go there is to get discounted student tickets to the game then I am going to be upset in the off season because football only lasts 3 months. You can always go visit.
I know you heard that the school over the hill has some of the best parties known to man. But does that mean I should attend because of the parties? I don’t want to be one of the people that go to college to party and end up partying myself into failing grades. I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying make some wise decisions there.
At the end of the day all schools really want is your money, you’ll understand more as you progress through. But you should make the most out of your time there. So I would create a list and narrow that list down to 3 – 5 schools that you are seriously considering. Because it is easier to choose between 5 schools than 25 schools.
Lastly please please please, if at all possible visit the school before you go. The internet can only get you so far. You need to actually go and walk around campus and experience it for yourself. There will be things that you noticed that weren’t in the pictures online. I didn’t visit my campus before I decided, and it worked out for me. But I would not chance that again.
