How to Choose a College that is Right for You

Author: Nora Khaled, senior, NHS member

The beloved college season and the stress that comes with it has finally arrived. If you are a junior or senior, you are probably asking yourself “ How can I choose a college that is right for me?”. Well luckily you’ve come to the right place. As an IB senior and someone who just went through this daunting process, I noticed that there are five factors to consider when choosing between colleges. These factors are geographic location, academic quality, school size, overall environment, and resources/ support systems.

Geographic Location:

Location plays a significant factor when choosing a college. You should consider whether you want to be 30 minutes away from home or have to travel across the country to go to college. This factor usually comes down to personal interest, but there are some financial factors to take into consideration. If you stay in-state, you will save money because in-state tuition is a lot cheaper. And, staying in-state can help you save money by living at home and cutting travel costs. If you choose to go to college across the country though, travel costs will be more expensive. And besides money, consider what type of geographic location you want to live in such as rural, metropolitan, or area somewhere in between.

Academic Quality:

Before you choose a college, you need to research the college’s academic programs and ratings within certain fields. This may be easier if you already know your major. But, you absolutely do not have to know! Here are some questions to keep in mind for this stage of the process: “ Does this college have my major/ desired field?”, “Are there decent internship programs for my field of study?”. Before choosing a college, try researching the overall ranking of that college based on your certain major/ any desired field. Keep in mind though, that the overall national ranking of the school does not affect how much you can make out of the school’s resources. Do not feel discouraged by “low” ranking!

School Size:

School size may not seem as important of an aspect when choosing a college that is right for you,but it does play a role in the learning environment and experience. There are small colleges and colleges that are larger. For a small school, there is generally easy access to one-on-one support from professors and academic advisors. For a big school, you can take advantage of diverse classes offered at bigger schools, but you may need to have clear interests and goals.

Environment:

It is important to examine the environment outside of academics. If you value having a great sports environment at your school, perhaps consider schools with renowned sports teams so you can attend games and other athletic events. Another question to think about: Does the college have greek life, intramural sports or art scenes?

Resources/Support systems:

Remember to consider your long-term needs as a whole when choosing a college. Do not go somewhere that doesn’t have the necessary support systems for you to thrive. That school is going to be your home away from home for the next four years! Specifically, make sure the school can accommodate medical conditions, spiritual life and any special learning commodities you may have. Check to see if the school also offers any counseling services for stuff like homesickness. Also keep in mind the college’s aid in helping find internships and other such career services as well.

Good luck! Thank you for reading, and those were my two cents about how to choose a college that is right for you. Make sure to comment!

-Comment below what type of college you like (Small or big? Far away or nearby? Etc.)-

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