How to Choose the Best School for You
- Ask yourself what you might like to study or major in at school.
- Create a list of criteria you want to use to assess schools.
- degrees offered
- 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
- campus resources (labs, libraries, computer access, etc.)
- graduation rate/time
- placement success/internship and co-op programs
- quality/reputation/ranking
- degree of pressure to excel
- safety (campus, community)
- student body (diversity, gender, etc.)
- social life (Greek organizations, sports, school spirit, etc.)
- religious affiliation/independent
- housing options (dorms, apartments, living at home)
- realistic entry expectations (based on typical student admitted)
- Create your list of potential schools.
- Use the criteria list from step 2. to narrow your list of schools.
- Visit the schools on your top 10 list.
- Figure out what schools made the cut.
- While waiting for decisions look for scholarships in the meantime.
- Make a final decison on the on the schools that accepted you.
Having some idea of what you're interested in or what career your would like to pursue will help narrow down the colleges that specialize in that field.
Here is a list of common criteria:
Now that you have the criteria you would like your dream school to possess, use that information to help you gather colleges that meet that criteria. You can visit websites, career fairs or talk to guidance counsellors.
Narrow your list to have your top 10 best choices. Having a long list of schools will distract you from what you really want.
Since you will be spending a good amount of time at your chosen school, visit the campuses to become more familiar with the surroundings.
You should be somewhat realistic with where you might be accepted. That being said, most people apply to one or two dream schools (small chance), two to four schools that they want to go and will be accepted and at least one safety school.
There are plently of resources on the web or through your guidance counsellors to find scholarships to help pay for your education. It is best to apply to scholarships 6 months prior to the start date of your studies.
Whether it is your dream school or not, make sure it is something you can afford or that the financial aid covers most of your expenses. It is important that you only stress about school work as appose to financial woes.