While I was in high school, I always felt like everyone around me knew exactly where they wanted to go to college. The majority of my class was dead set on a certain school for their own reasons. But honestly, once senior year rolled around I had no idea where I wanted to go to school. It's hard to stay above the influence of wanting to go where the majority of your high school friends and classmates are headed for college.
But honestly, once senior year rolled around I had no idea where I wanted to go to school. The big state universities seemed to be everyone's dream. At first, that towered over me making me think that it should be mine, too. Looking back, I really wish I would have considered smaller schools earlier. Here are some of my tips to help you choose the right school for you.
Start thinking about your future job early
As a business major, one of the first things I looked at for each school I applied to was their business college. Make sure that your school offers the major you want. I also think it's important to look into other majors that might spark your interest later. For me, I looked into the Business, Communications, and Nursing college because I found interests in all of them and I wanted to make sure that the options were there and that the schools were strong. You can do this through online research, the school's website, and by looking up each school's national ranking.
Consider class sizes
"Will I work better in a smaller class size? Am I able to concentrate in a 200-student lecture? Will the professor care about me?"
These are all questions I asked myself when I was comparing large schools to small schools. Keep in mind that college classes CAN be the size of high school classes if you find the right school. At the end of the day, you are going to college to further your education and eventually get a degree. Therefore, you should keep the schools that you believe you will thrive at academically at the top of your list.
Find the schools that promote your interests
It's so important to be involved during college. Look into what each school offers as extracurricular activities on campus and find the ones that you are wanting to try out! There are all types of ways to reach out to people involved in those extracurricular to ask them about what they do before you even step foot on the campus. This can be through social media or even the organization's website.
Remember that college is what YOU make of it. So while you're searching for your perfect fit remember to keep these things in mind.
