Finding the right place to spend the next four years of your life requires a thought out process. Your fate is in your hands -- no one else's. This is your decision! Here's what helped me.
1. Go with your gut.
Every college you consider will probably have something that draws you to it. But chances are something will rub you the wrong way as well. Stay attuned to that weird feeling you get in your stomach when the college you’re uncertain about comes up and figure out if the pros outweigh the cons.
2. It's not about the bumper-sticker effect.
Who cares if no one has heard of the school you are thinking about attending? Yeah, you might have to explain it to people when they ask you where you’re going to end up but embrace it! Your parents are going to put a bumper sticker on their cars no matter what. So pick the school that fits you.
3. Be greedy.
I know greed is a sin but do it. Be greedy. College is going to be your home for the next four years. Do what YOU want. Pick what you want. It’s not about what your parents want or what your college counselors tell you. This is all about you. Take complete advantage of that so when you look back at the end of your four years you don’t have regrets.
4. Find a balance.
You don’t have to go to the best school you get into. If the school is number one in the book of top colleges and you feel like it fits you then great, go to it. But keep in mind that the balance between academic rigor, social life, fun and relaxation is crucial. Find the school that will push you just the right amount. Not too much and not too little but enough in multiple areas so you grow as a person.
5. Don't skip over the little things.
Little things tend to add up over the course of time. Do you want to be surrounded by brick buildings all four years? When you visited the college did the people in front of you hold the door open? Is there a study space that you can see yourself in? Does it really matter if they have a new building if you’re never going to step inside it? How far do you want to walk to get to class? Can you deal with snow?
6. Don't expend unnecessary stress.
Don’t stress out because you don’t know what your top pick is right away. I know it’s easier said than done but trust me because I’ve gone through it. You’re in the same boat as a ton of other people. Let your top pick change. Play with the list and mess around with the order of your top five. Just looking at a college in your top one slot will give you some feeling in itself. Eventually, what is right will hit you. and I swear the light bulb will go off. But it’s going to take some experimentation. So give yourself time to ponder the possibilities and don’t let it keep you up at night.
7. Embrace the things you hate.
I visited a college and hated absolutely everything about it. Worse thing about that whole day was that I was initially excited about the college and then I left feeling like my puppy had just died. I didn’t even have a puppy at the time. But the point is to use failure to temper your success. Take the things you absolutely hate and use them to highlight what you really want and love. Compare the extremes and learn from your bad experiences so you can ensure that they don’t happen again.
8. Decisions are based on either love or fear.
Don’t choose your path out of fear disguised as practicality. Jim Carrey said, “What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect, so we never dare to ask the universe for it.” But ask for it. Ask for it because you can spend your whole life dreaming, imagining and worrying but at the end of the day what you have is what is happening now and the decisions that you make. Don’t waste anything on something less than what you truly want or love.
9. Don't get distracted by the big picture.
There’s this want to go out into the world and do something bigger than yourself, but ultimately there is nothing bigger than yourself. It’s your life and you’re here. You’re enough and you’re significant. Don’t forget it!
