10 Things You Need to Consider When Picking the Right College

Your college acceptance letters arrive but you have no idea what to choose. I was in the same situation for about a couple weeks straight where I didn’t know how to decide. It could have been a shorter period of time but I’m one of the most indecisive people I know. So many thoughts and emotions go through your head during this time. It is important that you stay positive and keep an open mind because you never know where your life will take you. When I was making this decision, these were the ten things that I thought were important to consider.

MAJORS. If you already know what you want to do with your college career, then this is a big thing to think about. Even if one school has a beautiful campus, amazing faculty and is in a great location, you should still consider whether this college has the major you are looking for. Often with very specialized majors, only certain schools offer them. The most common majors colleges have are business, science, math, and English. If you are going into a degree that is medical, design, or engineering related, I highly recommend that you make sure that the school you are interested in attending hsa that specific major that you have in mind. On the other hand, if you are unsure of where you want to go, this first consideration might not be as important to you, and you might want to base your choice on some other aspects.

OPPORTUNITIES. Of course you should choose the college that you feel like you fit in best with and can best afford, but you should also consider what you want to experience within your years in college. You should think about what types of opportunities you will be able to get within the college you are interested in. These could be internships, better and more advanced programs, or job opportunities. Ultimately, your goal after college is to gain a job, and these experiences within your college career will help you immensely if you take advantage of them. So, knowing what types of opportunities certain colleges can give you can help you in the future.

EXPENSE. Expense is a large factor, especially if you live in the US. Often times, if you go to a public university you could potentially be paying tens of thousands of dollars a year and private colleges are even more. I currently pay about $15,000 out of pocket, and that is in addition to the student loans and scholarships that I was given. So, ultimately, expense can be a determining factor. Community colleges are a great way to save money and still get a great experience. I have a friend that is going to community college and her class sizes are often no more than 25 people. If you go to a big public university like I do, a majority of your classes will be from around 100-500 students. While although they are trying to improve things like those, community college offers those class sizes at rates that are much lower than University rates. This offers more one on one time with the instructors, which often give you a better college experience. In addition, what you were given on your FAFSA could factor into this.

SCHOLARSHIPS. The scholarships that are offered to you should definitely be considered when deciding between colleges. Being given a sports or academic scholarship can be so helpful in college. But, what people honestly don’t realize is that there are thousands and thousands of scholarships that your college offers. I didn’t realize this until last month when I got a random email about this program called ScholarDollars that allows you to apply to different scholarships through one application. Don’t get me wrong, there will always be these random websites that advertise random scholarships, but this one was specific to my college. I am positive that every college or university has scholarships like this. Often a lot of colleges only present incoming students with very few scholarships that they offer, but there are many scholarships specific to that college that you can apply for throughout the year. If you are interested in finding out about scholarship opportunities within the colleges you are interested in, I would check in within their financial office and ask about what they have available to students.

ACTIVITIES. While your grades do matter, getting active outside of classes actually matter just as much. Activities such as clubs, greek life, honors associations, and more are ways to get active within your community. These things will be where you start to build a network and find friends. When deciding between colleges, these aspects are important to think about. Believe it or not, they can make or break your college experience. If you are unsure about what clubs they have, they usually have a page on their website with the list of clubs and associations they have. This list usually also includes sorority and fraternity chapters as well.

INTEGRATING FRESHMAN INTO THE COMMUNITY. To many incoming freshman, gaining friends is a scary aspect to think about. When attending a community college it can be easier because there are less students, but if you choose to attend a public university, there will often be around 20,000-40,000 students, making finding friends much harder. Knowing what types of activities the college does to bring freshman together can be much more assuring to someone. Some universities will have fun team building activities within the dorms, others might have a few days before the school year starts for those activities. But ultimately, the way colleges help integrate new students into the community should be thought about when making these big decisions.

LOCATION. I am mentioning location because it does have a impact on your college experience. I am not necessarily meaning whether you are close to the beach or the mountains, but more of how safe the University or community college is. When in college, there will be points when you will be wanting to get off campus and explore the area around you. You want to make sure that you can do so without feeling unsafe every time. Ask students if they feel safe outside of campus, or ask them to rate how safe they usually feel when stepping outside the college boundaries. This helps gain better perspective on what you will experience if you live there. You should also consider what types of things there are off campus and how far you are to them. The reality is that you will want to explore your surroundings, and knowing what there is can help influence you to choose a certain college over another.

THE CAMPUS. Before you decide to accept an offer, you should definitely take a campus tour. I recommend doing this during the summer because you get to see it’s beauty at it’s finest. Before I decided on Oregon State I was insistent that I was definitely not going to go there. I told my dad that I didn’t want to be in a state that rained a lot and was set on going out of state. But, my dad convinced me to take a campus tour during the summer and I fell in love with university. It made me realize that different parts of Oregon have different climates, which is incredible. I am sure this applies to many other states, you just have to experience it for yourself to realize it.

HOUSING. We have all heard of horrible college dorm stories, whether that be from youtube, people you know, or movies. But when deciding between colleges, this is an aspect that should really be considered. During campus tours, you are often only presented one dorm room from one hall. But, this is not a clear indication of what all of their dorm rooms look like. Each university has different dorm room standards, some include their own bathroom or sink, others have communal bathrooms. You must determine whether it is worth paying a little bit more to have your own bathroom or not. Before you make any decisions, you should look at their housing options online to determine what would best suit you.

WHAT YOU FEEL. Ultimately, do you see yourself going to this college? How attached are you to this college? You should make your decision based on whether you can see yourself living in the dorms and walking through the campus. Whatever college you feel the most happy with, you should choose. Trust your gut and go with it.