Deciding where to go to college is one of the biggest decisions you will make in your life. Where you go to college will determine your future, and before you decide this, there are a few things you should consider, especially if you want to go away for college.

Make sure you are really ready to leave home.

This is one of the toughest things you will have to experience. You will be on your own and away from everything you ever knew. We’ve all said it, “I can’t wait to move away and get out of here”. But when that day comes and you don’t get to see your parents everyday, you will wish you took longer to decide what you really wanted, because maybe this isn’t what you wanted.

Living in dorms is not as great as you would think.

You have to live with people you have never met before and that live a completely different way than you. As I am sitting in my dorm right now, I hear about three different conversations, loud music, and the girls in the suite next door laughing. At home, you did your homework in your room with peace and quiet, but when you live with five other people, there is no such thing as quiet.

Remember those delicious home cooked meals you had just about every night?

Yeah me too, those were the best. But now, I eat dining hall food about twice a day. They do have all different kinds of food for you, but it is the strangest food combinations, and nine times out of ten it’s cold and disgusting. Luckily, there are restaurants on campus, but after a while, your Boomer Meals run out and you have to start paying for it out of pocket.

Now, back to the dorms.

Some of get lucky and move in with people we know, but most of us live with complete strangers. Not everyone is the same. You will always have the messy one, the loud one, the anti-social one, and the annoying one. You are all best friends at first, but the later into the semester you get, the more things change. You really get to see how a person lives after a few weeks at college. And sometimes, the way they live is by doing every single one of your pet peeves.

For some, going away to college was the best decision they ever made. But for others, it’s not. As the other half of the group who wishes they never went away, I am telling all of you to really be sure you want to do this. Make sure that you are okay with not seeing your parents everyday, or your dogs. Make sure that you will be okay with only being at home for a just a few days out of the month. Make sure that you REALLY want this. College is not an easy decision, and neither is leaving your family.