As you approach your senior year, you’ll start to think about your future and which college you should attend. However, you may not know how to choose a college if you don’t know where to start.
Of course, you want to find the ideal one while picking colleges, but you have tons of information to go through. Picking a college may seem complicated, but you can make it easier by taking the proper steps.
Make sure you start by researching, looking into your local options, and identifying which colleges work best for your situation.
Start By Doing Research
You won’t know how to choose colleges if you don’t do your research. Start by determining what colleges offer you to know which will meet your needs. Doing so takes time, but you’ll make it easier to narrow down your choices.
Review the Best Universities
As you choose colleges, you must look into the best universities available. People always want to check the best options while choosing colleges. The top universities maintain their positions by offering great classes and helping students become successful.
Look into the universities you want to attend and see where they rank. While they may not seem that important, knowing where the college ranks can help your decision. For example, if you can’t choose between two colleges, you can select the one with the higher rating.
The rankings change with time, so keep an eye on them and see where your ideal colleges fall. After all, you may like a school initially, but it could drop in the rankings depending on what happens, so always stay up-to-date.
Knowing where your university lies matters if you don’t know how to choose the right college.
See What Programs They Offer
Colleges tend to offer different programs to help you get your degree. Whether you plan to get an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, make sure the college offers the degree you want. Otherwise, you’ll need to find a different college or choose another degree.
For example, if you want to major in accounting, you should review the degrees available at colleges. You can also look into the related degrees to see if any other choices interest you. However, some people view a lack of a degree as a dealbreaker.
Colleges will also offer degrees with an emphasis. An emphasis means you focus on a particular area in your field to specialize in your degree. For example, an English major can emphasize creative or professional writing at different universities.
If you struggle with identifying your ideal major, you should see which colleges offer the broadest range of majors to give you some flexibility.
Check the Curriculum and Requirements
Each university will establish its curriculum for you to follow alongside the requirements for each course. For example, one university may require you to have two math classes while another may need you to take three.
You can easily hop online and see what the curriculum requires to know what classes you must attend. You can also see what courses you must take for your intended major to get an idea of the requirements or any classes you didn’t expect to take.
Such planning will also help you determine how many classes you need to take to graduate in eight semesters. For example, while a school may require 12 credits a semester to count as a full-time student, you may need to take more credits to graduate on time.
Consider Your Ideal Region
Picking out a college should extend beyond your country. As you look into the options available, you’ll notice universities in multiple regions, so see what works best for you. For example, you may live in one country, but you could go to school in another country.
If you choose to study abroad, you must do your research to prepare yourself. First, you’ll need to get a visa and explain why you plan to visit the country so you don’t have any problems. Doing so requires planning and multiple steps, so see what each country needs before you go.
Each region has its ideal universities, so you can research each to see what works best for your area. Even if you decide to stay in your country, you should consider all your options to help you pick the best possibility for your education.
Look Into Acceptance Rates and Requirements
Before college, you must consider the acceptance rates and requirements. The acceptance rate lets you know what percentage of applicants the school accepts. The requirements inform you about any required GPA, SAT, or ACT scores.
If you know the acceptance rates, you don’t have to worry if you don’t get accepted. For example, if you can’t get accepted into a school with a two percent acceptance rate, you can rest easy since they reject most people, so you didn’t have the best odds.
When you know the requirements for the colleges, you can prepare yourself ahead of time. You can work on your GPA and study for the SAT and ACT to get the best scores possible. As you do so and build your resume, you increase your odds of getting into different colleges.
Remember Your Situation
Even if you find an ideal college, you must consider your situation. People live in different areas and have varying finances, so you must see how your case applies to college. Doing so will help you remain realistic while avoiding problems and minimizing expenses.
Review Local Colleges
Some people don’t like living in a new state to go to college. Picking an out-of-state college can lead to financial difficulties since some colleges offer a discount to locals. A local college also works for people who don’t want to pay for a plane ticket or drive their car to college.
Local colleges also work well since you could live at home depending on your financial situation. You also don’t have to travel as far to visit family and friends if you plan to stick around your hometown.
While a local college might not be the best option, you can save money and make college more accessible. Also, you won’t have to go to a place you aren’t familiar with, so the familiarity will make the transition to college easier.
Think About Your Finances
Before considering what college to attend, you must focus on your finances. Even though you may want to attend the best college in the world, doing so could cost you over 30,000 dollars for tuition.
Since prices vary between schools, you’ll need to see what you can afford. Otherwise, you could find yourself in financially tricky situations while picking colleges. Saving up for college might also help, but you may not be able to cover all the expenses.
If you can’t afford college, make sure you look into financial aid. You can receive financial assistance from your parents or even consider FAFSA for money. If those options don’t work, look into scholarships and even student loans to meet your tuition needs.
Community College vs. University
While you decide what college to attend, you need to consider the differences between community college and university. As you compare the two, you’ll notice some advantages of community college, but you’ll also see why people start at a university.
Community College Advantages
As you look into community colleges, you’ll quickly pick up on some advantages you can enjoy.
- Cost less than university
- It only lasts two years
- Smaller class sizes
Any community college will cost less money than a university. Depending on where you go and if you live in the state, you may only need to pay a few thousand dollars. However, the best universities may cost more money in a semester than two years at a community college.
Since community college only lasts two years, you don’t have to commit to it. You can take all the required courses at the community college and move to a university if you want a bachelor’s degree. The flexibility makes it great for people who want to see if college works for them.
You also don’t have as many people attending community colleges. You’ll notice the classes only have thirty or so students, while university classes sometimes have hundreds of students. That means you can get to know the professors and work closely with them to succeed.
University Advantages
While community college seems excellent, a university offers tons of benefits for you to enjoy.
- More classes and majors
- Offers bachelor’s degrees
- Meet more people
Universities offer tons of classes and majors to meet your needs. You can quickly go through the courses, find alternatives for ones you don’t want to go to, and pick your ideal major. Some people love having choices, so universities offer that flexibility to them.
You can also get a bachelor’s degree if you go to a university. Community colleges don’t offer bachelor’s degrees, so you’ll need to transfer to a new school to get one. However, a university works better if someone wants to stick with the same school throughout their college career.
Universities have thousands of people attending them. The situation works well for people who want to meet new people and develop many friendships in college. If you like socializing, you won’t get bored at a university.
Seek Help From Others
Even though research and thinking about your situation will help you with the process, you need to seek help from others. See what others suggest, so you can view the colleges from a different perspective to make your choice.
Ask a Professional
You don’t always have the expertise to determine the best college for you. If you don’t know where to look or need another opinion, you can talk with an expert about your situation. Doing so will help you get an impartial view of the matter.
Professionals will review your GPA and point you in the right direction for college. They can even recommend online courses for you to take to get started with schooling. Online classes work well since you can get some credits and establish excellent grades when you transfer.
A professional also works well since they know multiple colleges you may have overlooked during your search. They can also look into your financial situation to help you understand what you can afford while identifying colleges.
Talk With Your Guardian
While you should pick the college you want to attend, you need to talk about your situation with your guardian. Doing so will help you see how much money you have while tackling any concerns your guardian may bring up.
For example, if you can’t afford to rent a place while you go to college, you can see if your guardian will let you stay with them. However, you’ll need to attend a local or online college, so you must consider that while finding the right college.
Your guardian can offer advice and point out details you may have overlooked while choosing a college. While you don’t need to go where your guardian wants you to attend, you can always give yourself more information to identify the best choice for your situation.
See Where Your Friends Want to Go
Depending on your friends, you may want to attend college with them. Some of your friends will try and go to the same college to spend time together and make the transition into college easier. In addition, doing so helps you to have a support group as you start a new part of life.
Having friends can help you in college but can also distract you. Determine if you want to go to college with your friends since they may invite you to parties and activities. You could face challenging times if you don’t balance your school work and social life.
It depends on if you plan to stick with your friends and if you think they’ll be a good influence on you. Remember that you can’t always go to the same college since some of you may not get accepted, so remain realistic without losing hope.
Weed Through the Options
Choosing a college will allow you to weed through and narrow down your options. For example, you may find 20 or so schools you want to attend, but you can’t apply to every school. So instead, you need to think about what you want and see which colleges you want to prioritize.
As you go through the options, you can see which ones support online courses and books. While quite a few people prefer in-person classes, you can enjoy flexibility if a school lets you take classes online. You’ll also lower your expenses if you purchase digital books.
The process will require you to figure out where you want to go and your preferences. Then, you can review the pros and cons to determine which college is your ideal option.
Once you create a list and order your colleges, you can start applying for them from most to least wanted. The process will help you establish a clear goal and figure out where to begin while going through the list while choosing the right college.
You Aren’t Locked in Forever
Even if you use the best advice for choosing the right college, you may attend for a semester and not like the school. Such a risk may cause people to become fearful of where they should attend college. However, you need to remember you aren’t locked into a school.
You can always transfer colleges if you find out you don’t like the first one you attend. Doing so requires you to see which credits you can transfer since you could lose progress on your degree. However, if you find a better college, you could switch to it.
You can also attend a better college if you get good grades while attending your first one. Some people attend one college, get excellent grades, and transfer to a better one, which works well for people who didn’t take high school seriously.
If you want to make the transition easier, you can get your associate’s degree first. While colleges won’t take all your classes, they’ll take your associate’s degree when you transfer. You can work towards a bachelor’s degree and keep your progress while switching schools.
Final Comments
When you figure out what you must remember while picking colleges, you must consider various factors. Money and a good college matter, but they can’t be the only factors when deciding, so you must do your research.
The research does matter while you think about the options available, so see what each college offers. Doing so will make it easier to narrow down the choices and pick an ideal college for your needs. That way, you can apply and see which colleges work for you.
Even if some colleges reject you, you can keep applying and find out which college you want to attend once you finish high school.
