What college should I go to?

Choosing a college was by far the most daunting experience in my life. Going in blind, with no one else in my family going through this, I had to figure out how to decide where to go and how to find a school that would fit me.

In this post, I'm going to be talking about deciding on schools. Please note, I'm located in the United States, so this process might be entirely different in other countries.

Getting Started: The List

Maybe you have your entire life planned out, milestone by milestone, or maybe you've just realized you want to go to college, but don't even know what for. Not to worry! There are some factors everyone, regardless of plans, should consider before ever opening an application to a school. This list (not in order of importance) will go over some of the biggest considerations I had and think people should focus on! Research gathered here.

1. Cost

Whether you're paying for college, applying to scholarships, or getting help from friends/family, I think cost is an important factor in looking at schools. This could also affect your decision to go to a state university, private school, or even community college!

When beginning to look for colleges, decide what your upper limit is, and create categories ($/$$/$$$) to divide up the colleges up. This way, you can see what you're working with in each price range, and depending on how you will be paying for it, it can cut out some colleges before you begin your process!

2. Location

For me, location was everything. Colleges usually have a lower tuition for in-state students (tying back to item #1 on this list!), and can make it easier to travel back and forth if you want to visit your family, or even commute. Most schools have a location limit to register as a commuter student. My school requires that commuters live within a 25 mile radius of the campus to be considered.

Location can also be really important if you want to live on campus. Do you prefer a certain climate? Atmosphere? Scenery? How many things do you want to bring to your dorm, and do you have a plan to get them there if you live across the country? I live an hour away and drove my things here, but my roommate lives across the country and shipped her things! I also stuck with colleges located in cities during my application process, because I wanted the freedom of having potential jobs and off-campus housing available, as well as fun things to do off-campus.

When looking up schools and beginning your list of places to apply to, mark down where each school is located. You can even limit your searches to specific locations if you know there's an area you want to stay at. I personally drew a tiny map of the US, and a map of my home state, and put a little circle around each area so I knew where I might end up.

3. Campus size

This was actually something I did not consider when I was deciding on a college, but in hindsight, I really should have. Each size school has it's advantages! Large campuses offer a huge array of communities, tons of campus experiences like sports games, events, or greek life, and usually a thriving array of activities and resources. Smaller schools offer closer-knit relationships with professors and students on campus, and can lead to great resources when finishing up school and moving on to the next step in life.

Just like with cost, I suggest making a table of school size (big/medium/small). This is subjective, and you can choose what you consider a big school or a small school. I think my school is tiny- it has a student body of only about 2,500 students! As you find schools, consider what kind of environment you want to be in and whittle away at your lists using this table.

4. Majors offered

Now, you do not have to have a major decided when you enter college. In fact, it's estimated about 20-50% of college students enter undeclared each year! However, I think it's really helpful to look at the majors that a school offers. Most colleges will have a 'specialty' of sorts. It's the program(s) that they get the most funding for and have the most success in.

When I was looking for colleges, I limited my search to only the schools that had the programs I was interested in, and the schools that specialized in those programs. I knew I wanted to go into the psychology field, so if a school said that it's main focus was in biology or engineering, it wasn't going on my list.

I suggest narrowing your searches to things that interest you, especially if you haven't decided on a major! If you've never liked math in your life and don't have any suspicion that will change, it might not be worth it to apply to a math-focused college.

Okay, Now What?

Now that you have a list of schools you want to apply to, we might need to do a little more refining. Most schools have an application fee, and if you have a long list, that's going to put a dent in your bank account. I did not apply to a lot, but I was crazy, so...

Using the list I made above, try comparing each school and seeing which one you really click with. Look up pictures of the schools, see if you can find blogs by students going there, find out what life on campus is like! Rate my Professor actually has an option to look up a college or university, and you can read through the school ratings that students attending have given. Be sure to take those with a grain of salt, as small populations of begrudged students usually have the loudest voices, but it's still important to see what their complaints might have been!

Once you've gotten a feel for the campus life, knock out any other schools that don't match your vibe, and ta-da! You have your college list. Now go forth and apply, my friend.