Meal Plans Do the schools offer affordable meal plans? Do students partake in these plans and enjoy the food? Are the meal plans required?
Schools located in metropolitan areas, like George Washington University, allow students to set up accounts for debit cards. The debit cards can then be used in campus dining halls and at restaurants throughout Washington, D. These activities may include clubs associated with a field of study, recreational sports, volunteer groups, and religious organizations. Sports Participation There are many metrics to consider when thinking about college sports: percentage of student athletes, fan participation, and team rankings.
I definitely considered fan participation when I decided to go to the University of Florida. There is nothing like cramming into a loud and spirited stadium every Saturday in the fall with 90, of your closest friends! Safety Statistics Safety statistics are an important metric of campus life. How well are students protected from crimes? How many college police officers are there compared to the number of enrolled students? Some students go to college to party, and hope to get an education on the side.
If going to a party school is important to you, check out rankings on The Princeton Review , which currently lists Ohio University as the biggest party school in the U. If life takes you around the world, it will be nice to know that you have connections, no matter where you go. Additionally, a strong alumni network can help you find a job, and the network is essential in the job hunting process for some great career fields , such as finance.
Demographics Schools always publish demographics information, such as gender, race, and religion. Transportation Do the schools offer transportation around campus, as well as transportation to off-campus locations such as bookstores, apartments, and shopping?
Consider the number of students who have cars on campus, as well as the costs and availability of campus parking. Parking can be a huge ordeal at some schools, causing many students a lot of frustration. On some campuses, first-year students cannot have cars on campus at all, without special permission.
Some schools require that students sign agreements related to their spirituality, or follow some sort of honor code, which might require that students abstain from drinking, or regularly attend church, among other things.
These schools will be staffed with professors and faculty who are like-minded, sharing many common religious beliefs. If you are not religious, you may not be comfortable signing a morality agreement or following an honor code, but you may still find a place in a school that has close ties to spirituality.
Cost Unless you already have a large college savings fund, cost is probably an important metric for you. Remember to include room and board, along with tuition, when calculating the total costs for attending a school. Financial Aid Qualification Some schools are more likely to hand out student aid than others.
If you know you will need help paying for college, look for schools that meet the needs of students requesting financial aid. If you will need financial aid, closely examine the types of financial aid packages available to enrolled students. Also, consider the number of students receiving college scholarships and grants , and review scholarship opportunities for schools to determine eligibility.
Working Students Many college students work while they attend school, but some schools have a higher number of working students and encourage work more than others. Many schools also offer work-study opportunities for students in need of financial aid; the jobs offered by the schools can supplement loans and grants. How should you go about choosing the colleges to visit , to apply to, and, ultimately, to attend? Some students prioritize academics and ranking; others the campus social scene; others care about financial aid above all.
Whether you rely primarily on college websites, campus visits, discussions with current students, or ideally some combination thereof, learning about schools beyond their U. News and World Report ranking is crucial to creating a strong list of good-fit colleges. As you begin thinking about your college search, we suggest using these factors to guide you. The first part of college planning is understanding your higher education goals.
Many college-bound students opt for four-year universities, but others are interested in community colleges or trade schools. Public universities are state-funded and tend to be larger and more diverse. Private schools vary in size and are generally looking to create a cohesive student body. Figuring out what you want to study in college is a process, and most universities have strengths in a variety of areas. The next important factor to consider is: where do you want to be?
Given that you have a nation and world full of colleges and universities from which to choose, thinking about location is a great way to begin narrowing down your college search. Do you want to be near or far from home? In light of that, here are some things to think about. Outside of being a student, who are you? What defines you? What are you passionate about?
Many of your best university memories will happen outside the classroom so find out about the range of extracurriculars. Getting around town for food, shopping, and going out means knowing how to get from point A to point B. Another important thing to consider is how a university can prepare you for the future. Whether it be continuing your education or entering the workforce, learning how your degree will translate into a career is important.
We hope these questions help you narrow down your prospective university options. University is a big and exciting life decision, so we hope you find a school that lets you succeed in both academics and life experiences. Read More. Book a campus tour. Admission requirements. Skip to main Skip to footer. Beyond Ideas. Questions to help you find the university that's right for you 1.
If you haven't visited in a while, you should probably schedule a trip. Also consider crime and safety, not just for the city but the campus itself. Almost every major school will provide crime statistics for campus, and many will include surrounding areas. You might think of college as a safe and fun place, and it is. But crime happens, and crime rates vary widely from school to school. There are thousands of quality schools out there and they come in practically all sizes.
A school's size can tell you a lot about it. And much like type of school and geographic location, you probably have some sort of idea about the size of school you'd like to attend. Large colleges usually have more resources.
This can include campus facilities such as student housing, libraries, computer access, health centers, athletic facilities, culture and entertainment.
Large research universities also tend to have large budgets to invest in faculty, classroom technology and research and development labs for science, engineering and other fields of study. Perhaps most importantly, large institutions usually provide more academic options, including hundreds of different majors and concentrations. This can be especially attractive if you haven't settled on a major or are looking to pursue an interdisciplinary major.
Small colleges have plenty to offer that larger institutions cannot. Many colleges stay small so they can specialize in liberal arts education or even a certain discipline within liberal arts. The campus and the class sizes will be smaller, and the overall college experience is usually much more intimate.
Remember, a small and cozy school can still be located in a big, bustling city. And a big public university can be located in a small town these are often the party schools. It's important to judge the size of the school in the context of the surrounding environment.
Take a look at these lists and try to determine which one suits you better. Try putting a star next to each statement that describes you; you may end up being surprised by which section has more stars. Also take into consideration any of these statements that are non negotiables for you. This way, you can start out at whichever type of campus you think you would prefer, and easily transfer to a larger or smaller campus if you end up being unhappy where you are. Attending a smaller branch campus of a big school can also give you the best of both worlds.
You'll get many of the perks of a big school, such as a large alumni network and name recognition, but you'll get to do it all from a smaller campus. Another option is to start out at one type of school and only take your general education gen ed courses that will transfer to other schools.
This could also be a way to save some money if you do a year or two at a cheaper school for gen ed classes and then transfer to your dream school for the rest of your education. Will you be more likely to find a high paying job with a degree from a large, well-known university? Not necessarily. In fact, the top school on the list, Harvey Mudd College , has a total undergraduate enrollment of less than 1, students.
Other factors may be more important to you personally, but in the end, cost may trump them all. There are so many education options out there, and they all require a substantial financial investment. But some will put you into debt for years, while others will take decades to pay for. Private schools are usually more expensive than public colleges and state universities.
However, private schools tend to have larger endowments and offer more grants and scholarships. This can even out the cost of tuition to some degree. Tuition is only about half of the overall cost of attending college. Remember Geographic Location? Hopefully you have given some thought not only to where you would like to go, but where you can afford to go.
Attending college out-of-state is automatically more expensive. The tuition will be subject to non-resident fees, but you will also probably spend more on cost of living. If money is more of an obstacle, you may want to consider living at home and studying your general requirements at a community college. It has become very common, not just for affordability.
Across the board, community colleges have improved academic standards and made it easier to transfer credits to four-year universities. Many studies even show community college students going on to greater academic success than their university counterparts. Academic quality is further down on this list, but not because it is less important. It is more specific. The factors listed above will help you narrow down your list. Academic quality may very well be the determining factor in your ultimate decision.
One thing that happens when you search for colleges is you learn more about college itself. Conducting the search will help inform your ideas about what you want to study and what you want to gain from your college experience.
As your list gets shorter and shorter, you should be giving more scrutiny to the academics at each school. If your high school offers guidance counseling, you should absolutely take advantage of it. A counselor will sit down with you and help you clarify what you're looking for.
They will also have literature and resources for you, including reviews of different colleges and academic programs. Do some online research of your own. Don't just read general descriptions of colleges, but look into specific departments and programs.
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