how to pick a college?

Question

All the colleges sound the same to me! And there are thousands of them!

I don't want to go to any ivy league school, but i do want it to be more selective. i don't want a focus on sports. i want to live on campus. i want it to be in northern US. i don't know what i want to be but i prefer art, writing, languages, psychology, and philosophy. things that give you room to think creatively and not just straight facts like maths and engineering.

i understand that you have to look online, in books, or in pamphlets, visit schools, etcetera. i have done searches online, but i can't seem to narrow down the choices, and i definately CAN NOT find anything that stands out to me! i have no idea what else i can do..and maybe you have recommendations?

I meant to say northeast US. Also, my grades are B's and A's and I do take honors classes.

Thank you everyone for the help. you are wonderful.

Answer 1

sounds like you should choose an art school or a school with excellent B.A. programs. there are tons of good liberal arts colleges in the north and northeast that would probably be a good fit. consider the following two questions:

do you prefer a large campus environment or a smaller, more intimate college setting?
do you prefer an urban university, or a school in a small town?

my general piece of advice is to 1) get into the best school you possibly can, and 2) choose a school that has a program or programs that are very appealing to you

If you can get into an ivy league university, go for it. they all have excellent liberal arts schools and creativity/self-guidance won't be limited. your degree will open many doors after graduation.

if you definitely don't want an ivy league school but you want to go to a school in the north with excellent liberal arts degrees, consider the following:

large universities -
northwestern
chicago
michigan
NYU

liberal arts colleges -
swarthmore
andover
williams

Answer 2

Subscribe to US News & World Report College Rankings info online for $15 a year. Buy (or access at your local library) the latest available Fiske Guide to Colleges. Buy (or take out from library) the book Colleges that Change Lives (website: http://www.ctcl.com/why/myths.htm)

Speak with your school's college counselors and they should help you narrow down your list as well.

Key things to think about:

* Large school or smaller school? Large classes or small classes?
* Setting ... urban? suburban? rural?
* Liberal arts or other more specialized curriculum? (Sounds like the former from your question)

You've already decided on the "north." Once you answer the above, then you need to give serious consideration to the following:

* What are your grades/SAT scores? narrow down your list and categorize each as a reach school, likely school or safety school
* Will you need financial aid from the school?

Hopefully you can visit some of the schools. Make sure you request literature from all of them, visit as many as you can, let the school know you're interested. Narrow down your list to 10 schools to which you plan to submit applications. Decide if there's any one of them that is the "perfect" fit, your ideal school. If so, consider applying early decision. The odds of acceptance will be a bit better and you'll know sooner...less worry the rest of your senior year. But you have to be 100% sure of that school, otherwise don't go that route.

Go to the best academic school you can get into, if you can (meaning, financially.)

Best of luck to you!

(My son's looking at schools now, and some names that come to mind when I see what you're interested in -- Bowdoin, Colgate, Colby, Bucknell, Williams, Amherst, Haverford, Grinnell, Wesleyan, Northwestern, Oberlin, Bates. Of course, some of these are among the top-ranked liberal arts colleges in the country and I don't know about your grades, etc.

Answer 3

I go to Evergreen State College in Washington. It's a very good cheap school if you live in Washington. It's a liberal arts school with small class sizes, that isn't private but it feels private. It also has an alternative type of education that is different than alot of other schools. We don't get grades we have two page evaulations. If you do badly you just won't get all of the credits you tried for. Also the majority of classes at Evergreen are 16 credit classes, so instead of taking 16 credits worth of small classes you take just one big class that is centered around one thing. Though Evergreen also has the option of 12 credit classes, 8 credit classes, 6, 4, and 2 credit classes like most universities. There is also the option of making out your own contract with a teacher, but most people who do that are beyond freshman year. More info is available at the Evergreen website. http://www.evergreen.edu/ Also Evergreen Campus is near the city of Olympia. But Olympia is really small, so if you are a big city kind of person I wouldn't suggest Evergreen to you. Seattle is an hour to an hour and a half away, so it isn't that bad as long as you have a car.

If you don't care about money there are many many great schools. Reed in Oregon, Naropa in Colorado, MICA in Maryland, Bard in New York, the 7 sisters schools are cool they have alot of connections with other universities. If you're looking for cheap schools check out state schools that aren't private. Live in that state for however long they require you to become a resident - it's usually a year - and then tutition is usually alot cheaper. With private schools everyone usually pays the same price whether or not you are a resident. Most universities cover a large range of topics, and deffinitely the topics you are interested in, but Liberal Arts schools do too and they tend to be smaller and focus on the arts, the sciences, and humanities almost exclusively.

Lastly I advise traveling to the schools you decide you are interested in. If you can't afford this talk to people who go there, and thoroughly checkout every part of their website. That's what I did before I went to Evergreen because I was too busy to check the school out in person. Good luck! ^_^

Answer 4

Ok, think about what you want to do in college. What do you want to major in? Realize that when you start the extra activities may not be important but they will become that way.

Look at the class sizes. I am currently in college and the smaller classes are much nicer. I myself chose to attend community college first because of the cost difference but now that I am chosing to attend a 4 year college....I am looking at what is realistically best for me.

The tours didnt do any good. But I went back on my own and looked around and just observed and talked to folks to get a better idea of what I wanted

Answer 5

Try a liberal arts college: they stress learning to think and write and cultivating a wide variety of interests. Take specifics into account: Location? Size of school? Culture of town? Culture of student body?

At first you'll want to apply to a wide range of schools anyway; leave the business of choosing the school until after you've gotten your acceptance letters. One thing that definately helps is visiting the schools, especially in attending classes and staying in the dorms with students. The school visit was my decisive factor in picking my current school.

My school is Colorado College, one such small liberal arts school. But at this stage, cultivate a wide list and keep your options open. Good luck ;).

Answer 6

it sounds like you might be interested liberal arts schools. they are usually smaller, more flexible with their curriculum, and more oriented towards the humanities.

of course, there are lots of great, selective liberal arts schools in the northern U.S.
barnes & noble, or any other big bookseller, will carry a range of college search books, including some that profile only liberal arts schools. (you could give "Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians, and Writers (Paperback)" a shot.)


if you want a general idea on what a school for you might be like,
i'd definitely check out the Counselor-O-Matic program on the
Princeton Review website. it's a survey that lets you put in the different things you might want in a school that you haven't thought about yet (diversity, Greek life, etc.), so it could be a great starting point for figuring out some match schools.

here's a link: http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/advsearch/match.asp.

there's your actual school counselor, too!
they'll know your record best and can give you some leads.
as could family members who have graduated, your friends' older siblings, etc.

best of luck w/ your search, and i hope that helps!

Answer 7

seems to me that u would check for classes first to see what each school has to offer u.
then check distance as to how far u want to travel
if money is no object then u'd have no problem, if it is u might want to put this 1st.
if none of the schools in the north grab u'r attention, u may want to spread out a little further south or west.
continue spreading out until u find the school that grabs u
perhaps u need to take a sabbatical from school for awhile and then try again next year, maybe u r just burnt out a little.
good luck.

Answer 8

see how much they cost tuition and fees, see the ratio of who graduates and comes out with a job. Ask yourself would you prefer a college that is big where everyone really does not know everyone or a small college were it is very intimate and like a community. Or you can go to a school like i do where it is just right big enough that i do not know certain people and small enough were i get that family atmosphere that i really like. If you like to hustle and bustle then a big college would be right for you. You want to stay up north maybe Rutgers or NYU

Answer 9

I suggest that you research the background of some of your favorite professionals in the subjects that you plan to study, then you might learn that some of them attended and maybe even praise certain institutions over others. You can also research the professors at each university, some may have exceptional reputations in this country. Remember, the success of the student can greatly depend on the quality of the mentor.

Answer 10

well, college-pickign process is really complicated because sometimes u might find an exceptionally well school that, lets say does not meet some of the things u are looking for.
So you must make priority first
what is more imp. to you?
The school being in a certain place?
Or the programs the school offer?
Or maybe a good campus?

we cant really make this decision for you because it is an important decision, you must do it yourself. :)