As I go into my senior year, I have the list of colleges I would like to apply to already in my head. However, figuring that out came with a lot of difficulty, and I wish I had some sort of guide to help me along the way. Therefore, I decided to help incoming juniors (and maybe some seniors) out in what to look for when applying to college. Here is my guide, made for you, on how to pick the right college!
First things first: What do you want to do?
I had no idea what I wanted to pursue in college. You don’t have to know what profession you want to be in once you leave college. However, you should have some sort of idea about what you’re good at, or what subjects you would like to study in college. Once you know that, you can see if certain colleges excel in a certain program. For example, University of California: Berkeley has an excellent business school (Haas Business School) that is known worldwide. Likewise, University of Southern California has a film and arts school that is rivaled only by one other school (University of California: Los Angeles). You don’t have to have your future nailed down, but it’s good to have an idea on what you would like to pursue.
Location, location, location
I love traveling. I love being in new places, learning a new way of life, and living in a completely different atmosphere. For me, my sunny California weather is perfect (we have heat waves in January!). I don’t mind staying in California or going to the East Coast (New York is my dream). But the main problem with going far – you’re that much farther away from home. Now, I’m not usually the person that gets homesick that often. Distance isn’t a problem for me, however, whether I go to college on the east coast or in state seriously affects how much I can travel home. If you’re the type of person who gets homesick after being away from home for a while, it would be in your best interest to look at colleges that are closer to home.
People, please
I like being around a large population. While it is, at times, belittling, it also makes me feel like I can fit in easily with the surrounding population easily. The thing about a large student body is that there are probably a large amount of students in your classes. Freshman and sophomore year classes tend to have more seminar-type lectures, and in large colleges, there will definitely be a lot of people in these classes. If you want help from the professors, or you prefer a more intimate classroom structure, you probably want to go to a smaller college.
FOOD! DORMS!
I always try out the food when I look at colleges. You’re going to be living there, might as well see what you’re going to eat! There are usually many options for food, whether it be on-campus dining, fast food, or restaurants. Looking at the dorms is also beneficial because you get to see how much space you would get living in a dorm. You also see the bathroom situation and how many other people you will share it with.
While all these things are important when looking for colleges, the most important thing is what you want. Only you can make the decision about what college you want to go to.
