Applying to college was one of the most stressful experiences I've ever endured. The second-most anxiety-ridden event was trying to figure out what to do once all the schools I applied to had replied to me. Picking the place where you're going to spend "the best four years of your life," earn a degree to help advance your career and make lasting friends is a lot of pressure. And a lot of the time you don't really know if you've picked the right school for you until you get there.

Some of the college letters I had received were a little more disappointing than I had hoped, and others contained congratulatory statements and great scholarship offers. When I think about the girl sitting on the floor in her room doing the math on tuition costs, re-researching degree programs, and googling pictures of the universities she applied to, there are a few things I wish I could tell her and the other people like her. So with great assistance from some friends at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, The Ohio State University, Saint Louis University, Wittenburg University, University of Mississippi and Clemson University, I've put together the things seniors should know when trying to decide which college to go to.

1. You might not get to go to your dream school.

"Whether by disheartening application results, insufficient financial aid, an irrefusable offer from another school or some other unfortunate circumstance, you might have to accept that you may not get to attend your "dream school." While disappointing at first, do not let it affect your attitude towards starting at another school. I wasn't able to attend my dream school for financial reasons, and when I started at my current college I really hardened my heart against it at first because it wasn't where I had hoped to be at the time. This really prohibited me from branching out and truly enjoying what was happening around me. As I fell in love with my classes and found incredible opportunities on campus, I began to shed these sour feelings. I only wish I'd done it sooner.

'Rejection sucks but if they don't want you, screw them.'" - C

2. Explore all your options.

I only applied to four schools, and looking back I wish I'd applied to more. Not because I'm upset about where I am now, but because every once in awhile I'm tormented by what-ifs and I-wonders. Even if you're only vaguely interested in a school, apply if you can. You never know what will come out of it.

"Look at schools with a variety of different majors because, most likely, you will switch majors and don't wanna get screwed over." - C

"Really look [at] a lot of places. It is a burden sometimes and time consuming but [it's] good to weigh out all your options." - E

"Take your time in making your decision!" - S

3. Look at the big picture.

There are a lot of things to consider. How much debt could you graduate with from College X versus College Y? Do you want to be a surgeon and College Y has a higher percentage of students accepted to med school, even though College Z is in a better and more convenient location? Consider finances, programs, location, size, campus safety, dorm life, food, class sizes, campus culture, athletics, arts, and national ranking.

"Look at the freshman retention rate of your school it's a big indicator." - H

"Tell them to think about what they want after they graduate: are they going to move back home to find a job, want to live in a big city, or something else. Being in a big city can help find jobs, with grad school, stuff like that." - A

4. Distance is REALLY important

How are you going to get to and from school? How often will you be able to visit home? How much are plane tickets, or gas to get there? Do you get homesick easily? Are you living on campus or saving money by commuting.

My university is an hour away from my house, which is the perfect distance for me. It's far enough for me to feel independent, but close enough for my parents to bring me microwave mac 'n cheese and face wash when I run out, or to just go home for a 3-day weekend. Those are both huge luxuries.

"Distance can be a really scary factor but in my personal experience, once you're there, distance hardly crosses your mind. But don't choose to go far away just for the sake of 'getting away from helicopter parents.'" - C

"Being super far from home isn't always everything it's cracked up to be especially if you're naturally a homebody." - H

5. Make your own decision

"This is your first real decision that only you can make for only yourself so take your parents' advice into consideration but really go with your heart to live the life you want to live." - C

"It can be stressful when second semester comes around and everyone is asking you where you are going and you just have to say where you are deciding between and it's hard to see all of your friends start to choose their colleges and they are talking to potential roommates - it puts a lot of pressure on you to make a quick decision. But you have until May 1st and it is perfectly fine to use all that time to really weigh your options and find where you will be happiest. Even though this might make your mom annoy you every day asking where you are going (from personal experience) she will be happy knowing you took your time to make the right choice for you!" - S

6. Roommate life won't always be easy no matter the school

"It's really common not to be best friends with your roommate and that's not always a bad thing but like don't be dead set on being best friends if it's someone you didn't know prior." - H

"RT to that roommate thing." - E

"RT to the roommate thing too." - K

7. Be confident in your choice

"If you have second thoughts ignore them, just go with your gut and don't look back. I feel like it's really normal to be unhappy a few weeks in when you start to get homesick and tired...but it passed." - H

"Even if your heart is dead set on one place, you'll still have a moment of weakness where you think to yourself like wow why didn't I go to school with more people I know or why did I go to a school this far from home, but everything works out the way it's meant to be in the end!" - E

I'm blessed to call Miami University home, but it took a lot of work and tough decision-making to get here. But like it says in the quote above, everything works out the way it's meant to be in the end.

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Special thanks to all my friends who offered advice and perspective.