Whether you are an incoming freshman or a transfer student, the decision to decide where you will continue your education is a very important one, it requires hours of contemplation, comparisons, visiting campuses, and discussion.

Here are six reasons why I chose Temple University.

1. Location.

I was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia and I am proud to call this beautiful city my home! I knew from September of my senior year that I wanted to attend a college in the city. Cities, especially one like Philadelphia, offer countless opportunities for your prospective career AND a social life. There is always something going on and there is always something to discover!

2. Affordability.

Like other state schools, Temple keeps its tuition affordable. This is great not just for the wallet but for the reputation of the school. Low tuition attracts everybody, which attributes to Temple's diverse student body. Throughout my college search process, I kept searching for reasons justifying some colleges and their high price tags. Temple never needed justification.

3. Test-optional.

If you're like me and you're not good at taking standardized tests then you fully understand the fear of a college's admission decision based on your SATs or ACTs. What about my stellar grades, AP courses, extracurricular activities, volunteer hours, and leadership roles? Don't they matter? Temple showed me that I am not my test score, that the hard work I put in my years of high school does not add up to a few numbers.

4. Fly in 4.

Throughout high school, I encountered many college students who had to take an extra year to graduate and I made sure to take a mental note: do not do this. It was after the second time I visited Temple that I discovered the Fly in 4 program, a graduation agreement with guidelines to ensure you graduate on time. And if you don't graduate in 4 years after completing your checkpoints? Temple pays your remaining tuition. This commitment to student success was unlike any I have seen at the other universities.

5. Academics.

As a first-generation American, my immigrant parents always expressed the importance of education and the opportunities it provided to them, therefore academics have always been important to me. I needed a school that wasn't just "okay." I needed a school that showed me evidence of their strong academics and the students who came out successful as a result. It also helped that I knew I wanted to go into the medical field and Temple has strength and resources in my program.

6. I followed my heart.

Growing up in Philadelphia, the attitude towards Temple in my high school was always an "eh." For most of my friends it was a backup school or one where it was too common to attend. I had my family members repeatedly tell me, "Go away to college!" and "Are you sure you don't want to go to a better school?" I blocked out everyone else's opinions and focused on how Ifelt about the school and what it provided for me because it is not my friend's or my mom's future, it is mine and nobody else's.