How to Select a College to Attend

The College process might seem a bit overwhelming but not to fear; my article is here. After you have sent out your applications to all of the colleges on your list, you should take a close and careful look at the colleges that you have been accepted to and any of them that have put you on a wait list. You can also apply to colleges through early decision in which you get your decision status a month or two earlier on the condition that you must attend that school for college.

You can also do early action, a feature that lets you apply to college early but it is a non binding decision and you do not have to attend that school. Only a few schools have this early action option. You should compare the colleges you have been accepted to by their price; private schools cost significantly more than public schools. I would only recommend doing the early decision option if you are 100% certain that this is the college that you want to attend. You might also want to see if attending that school will force you to take out loans which might be burdensome.

You should also visit each college and take a guided tour while campus is in session. You should speak to an admissions advisor on that campus and ask them any questions you may have about their school While your there, you should also talk to students on campus and ask them how they feel about their university. What do they like or don’t like? You should look at the student body there are see if you will feel comfortable by the people surrounding you. Are academics highly concentrated or is social life the focal point? You should check out if new facilities have been built and visit the dormitories that you will be staying in at least your freshman year of college.

I also recommend buying a college book such as Kaplan or Princeton and see if their is a lot of red tape in the administration; does the administration give students difficulty in accomplishing their tasks? How helpful is the administration? Another thing to look for is how big the class sizes are. How many people are in a lecture and discussion classes? Another little known fact to watch for is the student to faculty ratio. This determines if professors have time on their hands to work with thier students. Ask what the social life on campus is like, Do they have a lot of fraternities and sororities? What about clubs and other organizations. Social life on campus is very important for most people. You should also see what activities the university offers on weekends. Perhaps they show movies or go bowling or shoot pool. Every university is different.

Getting to academics, grades tend to be competitive on campus. Ivy League schools tend to heavily stress academics and excelling in the classrooms. Other schools such as the University of Maryland emphasis sports and their basketball teams or a schools football team might be the focal point of school life. Another factor might be the distance the school is from your home. A school on the opposite coast of the U.S. might not be a school you would want to go to because of the large travel distance or your parents might want you to go to school close to home.

Whatever your decision is, remember, you can always transfer out of it. Best of luck on your decision.