Choosing The Right School!

Choosing where you want to go to college is an extremely personal -- and frequently stressful -- decision that millions of teens have to make. So, how can this blog help you? This blogs intent is to give you a guide that will help you choose the school that is right for you!

Now before we begin, you must know that it's best to start this process as early as possible, ideally in the junior year of high school (although some experts say to start even earlier). If you are a senior and have not started the process yet, get cracking and remember its not too late to lose hope.

Step 1: Determine what you might like to study or major in at college. Yes, many students enter college as “undecided,” and that's fine, but if you have some idea of a career or a major, that information can help in finding colleges that offer (and even specialize) in that field. You might like to try some career assessment tests to help you with this step.

Step 2: Develop a list of criteria you want to use to evaluate and weed out colleges. Do you want to live close to home, or far away? Do you want a large university or a small college? What about costs? Here's a list of common criteria:

• degrees offered
• majors/minors
• location (rural or urban setting)/distance from home
• size of the student population (from small at 1,000 to large at 35,000+)
• public vs. private
• costs (tuition, room and board, etc.)
• financial assistance packages
• graduation rate/time
• accreditation
• quality/reputation/ranking
• safety (campus, community)
• social life (Greek organizations, sports, school spirit, etc.)
• housing options (dorms, apartments, living at home)

Step 3: Compile a list of possible colleges and universities. With at least some idea of the criteria that are important to you, begin the gathering phase. A great resource is the college-related Website TheAdmissionsOffice.com. You will surely also get suggestions from family, friends, and high school teachers and guidance counselors. You should also consider attending college fairs, where you can actually meet representatives from the schools, as well as gather important literature.

Step 4: Gather all your resources and information about each school you're considering. If you don't have all the information you need on a particular college, you should consider visiting the college's Website. And most colleges offer some sort of virtual campus tour, so you can get an early taste of the look and feel of a college from your PC.

Step 5: Use the criteria from Step 2 to narrow your list of colleges to a manageable number. This number will vary widely among teens and their families, depending in part on how many you and your family can realistically visit. Most experts suggest narrowing the list to 10 or fewer, but we have known some students who had close to 20 colleges after completing this step.

Step 6: Visit the colleges on your list from Step 5. The best way to really get a feel for a college is by visiting the campus, taking a tour, meeting with students, attending a class, reading the campus newspaper, eating in the cafeteria, and spending the night in a dorm (if possible). You have to feel "at home" at the place where you will spend the next four years of your life, so visiting is important.

If you follow these 6 steps you can cover a lot of ground in the road to choosing the best school for you. Remember, starting early is good but making sure you understand all the information before committing to a school is even better! If you have any questions or want to share some advice on helping other pick the right school, give us a shout back because we are here for you!