There is no such thing as a “perfect” college. As much as we’d like for that vision in our heads to be real, it’s not. Finding a school that feels like home, however, is real.
In the final years of high school, there’s a certain pressure put on students to find the quintessential college, or the place that clicks perfectly. I’m not saying this doesn’t happen for some people, it can; but for many people, it’s not that simple. There could be a lot of places that could “click,” or there could be none at all.
In my own experience, I realized that finding the right college wasn’t about what school had the coolest perks or the most pristine campus (although my campus is pretty great), but it was about finding a place where I left each visit feeling relaxed. I wasn’t filled with anxiety or uneasiness; I was calm. It was right for me because it felt like a place that could become my home for the next four years.
One of the biggest truths about college is that your experience is what you make it. There could be another school that you have considered because it seemed faultless at one point in time. The important thing is to not get caught up in all of the “perfections” that you see on the outside.
College is college, after all. The efforts that you put into a school and its programs will reward you if you want it to. Every college will have students that you could potentially become friends with. Every college will have professors that truly care. Even if you chose to attend somewhere else, you wouldn’t know the difference anyway.
The real magic of finding the right college is in finding the place that feels good in your gut. Once you have this feeling, everything else will fall into place.
Unless you completely hate a school but decide to attend anyway, you can’t truly go wrong. Do the logistics and weigh the pros and cons of each college’s program and tuition fees, but know that making the “wrong” choice can’t really happen if you have the right mindset.
So, know that choosing the right place shouldn’t be too stressful. Wherever you decide to go, you will end up being okay. You will make friends and you will learn and grow. For what it’s worth, know that you are going to be just fine.
