When my high school career was coming to a close, the most difficult decision that I had to face was the decision of what college to attend. Only a very small portion of students really know where they want to go and what they want to do with their lives. For the rest of us, however, our desires are a little vaguer, which made the college decision process more difficult. Here’s a list of factors that I put into place in deciding where I would go to college.
Class Size: This all depends on what kind of student-teacher experience you want. One of the perks of being in a small college is that you get more time to talk to your professor and learn more about their field of study. You also get more chances to find help for any classes you might be struggling in. On the contrary, one advantage of a big class is that more grade curves will likely be given and you have the chance to miss class and learn straight from the textbook (not that I’d recommend this).
Available Fields: Obviously, your college of choice needs to have whatever major(s) and minor(s) you are potentially interested in. Unless you know exactly what you want to do, it’s usually a good idea to look for colleges with plenty of options. It is not uncommon for undergraduate students to change their major one or more times during their college experience.
Community Involvement: Many colleges have opportunities that will allow you to work with businesses and organization in the community to give students a better perspective of their fields of study. This is also a good opportunity to begin making connections for your career. This is a very important aspect of college decisions, so make sure your school has good alumni relations and internship availabilities!
Campus Life: One thing that I want to stress is that you should definitely visit each college that you apply to. You could be living there for four entire years or longer. You do not want to get there on day one only to realize that the school is essentially a prison. How your campus looks and feels to you is very important! In addition, learn about your school’s reputation on campus. Whether it has a party reputation, or a community service one, make sure you pick a college that will fit your personality while allowing you to grow and experience new things.
There are many more things to consider while looking at colleges, but unfortunately, I can only list these few. Something you need to remember is that while this decision IS very important, it is not the end of the world. If indeed, you do get to your college to start your freshman year and you absolutely hate it, don’t forget that you can always transfer! But give yourself time to become fully acclimated to the university, and you might find yourself falling in love with it in time! Good luck!
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