Important Factors for College
What are the most important factors to consider in choosing a college? The college application period in a high school student's life marks a very difficult and important time. Narrowing one's decisions can be painstakingly hard. That is why the team of DATKEA (Alyse, Kathy, Andrew, Dan, Erick, and Tiana) are here to give you advice. While there is no one answer, some factors in the application process are more important than others. We hope to explain the most important ones.
Some factors to consider:
-public or private
-near or far
-religion of the school (if it has one)
-sporting programs
-urban, suburban, rural
-financial aid, tuition costs--money, money, money
-housing --apartment or residence hall?
-college majors -- do they have your major at this college?
-campus life (party, party, paratry or study, study, study?)
-campus size (big or small pond?)
-academic rank or the college - (view the National Universities Rankings of 2009 here)
-food (Does the college meet the food grade? Check it out here!)
-hotness factor--I'm talking about the weather (but people matter, too)
Quite obviously, there are many factors to be considered while choosing a college. The ACT people want to help out as well; they have a checklist of factors that you can view here.
Surveys:
A piece of noteworthy advice: First, decide what is important to you. Then, for a quick and easy way to compare multiple aspects of various colleges you think you might be interested in, visit www.collegeboard.com. This site will allow you to put different colleges side by side for an assessment of the most important factors. Remember that this page is just a tool to get you thinking about what might be important for you about a college. All that really matters is what you want out of college, and it is possible that none of these may affect your decision at all, and that would be totally fine! You just have to understand what it is about a college that you are looking for. And while all of these on-line references are helpful, the best way to judge a college is by actually visiting the campus and experiencing life there firsthand. If possible, plan visits to most--if not all--the colleges you are considering. Get to know the colleges before making the ultimate decision!
Our WonderfulWebmaster: Kathy Yang
Data Collectors/Interviewers: Andrew Yabusaki, Tiana Steckler, Alyse Nelson
(Edited by Erick Holguin & Dan Scheibe)
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