How did you pick the college or university you are going to?

Question

Hey, i've been trying to figure out the best school i can attend. Everyone i talk to is happy with the school they are going to! I just want to know how you go about finding the best college for you and your major. I planing on majoring in medicine or maybe in journalism. Someone once told me that going to a huge college or university that is well known might not always be the best out there. Say Duke for example and all that has happened there in the past year or two. I'm starting to think the name of the school means nothing. Basically i want the best bang for my buck! What do you think? Got any proven tips? Thanks guys i appreciate it.sorry its long.

Answer 1

That is a great question, and good for you for not going on name alone. So many students select their schools based on prestige, name recogntion or a magazine ranking, without considering whether or not it will really work for them. There are plenty of people for whom Harvard would be a terrible fit.

Some of the questions you should ask yourself when screening out colleges:

*What schools have my major/possible majors?
*Do I want to stay in this area, or would I be comfortable moving to another part of the country?
*Do I want a school in/near a big city, or more remote?
*What is the teacher/student ratio? Am I comfortable in a large school setting, where classes might have more than 400 people in them, or do I want a smaller school with more one-on-one time with professors?
*Will I have access to a car? How easy is it to find transportation on/off campus?
*How easy is it to find housing? Am I comfortable living in dorms or commuting?
*Are clubs/athletics important to me? Would it matter if they weren't there?
*Do I want a school with a vibrant social scene, or one more academically focused?
*Is a school's religious affiliation important to me? Would it bother me to attend a school run by a religion different than mine?
*What sort of internships do the colleges offer while I'm a student there?
*What assistance do they provide in finding jobs for alums after graduation?

There are a lot of things to consider, more than I have listed here. But the name of the college shouldn't come into play until you are down to your final 5-10 schools, or in a tie-breaking situation.

Once you have a group of about 5 to apply to, visit them. Make appointments with faculty/students....take the campus tour. I know plenty of people (myself included) who had firm plans to attend one university, but then changed plans completely once they visited the campus. It was the best decision I ever made.

Good luck!

K

Answer 2

I picked a school because it was far away from my parents and because a friend was going there - HUGE MISTAKE!!!

Find out all you can about the school before you go! The name really doesn't make a difference in the "real" world and I'd go to a state school to save money.

The University of Kentucky is good for medicine. The University of Louisville is too - it's my alma mater (not hte first school I attended - that was Eastern Ky. U.) and they are dumping tons of money into research facilities and medicine right now.

Another thing you can do to save money is do your first two years at a local community college, then transfer to a bigger school. This way, you can make up your mind about what you want to do and get your general studies out of the way. If you want to stay at home, you can attend online courses for the first year or two. The University of Massachusetts has a great online program.

Try to get an Associate's degree in something before you get your bachelor's. Also, let the schools court YOU! Go somewhere where they act like they want you as a student.

Good luck! :)

Answer 3

1) Do you want to be close to home or far away? Both have pros and cons.

2) What is the reputation of the school for the major you are considering? Take this into account.

3) Consider size of school. Some prefer huge (or don't mind huge), others insist on small, more personal college.

4) Consider price tag. Instate probably cheaper than out of state. Public probably cheaper than private as well. Are you paying yourself, or is there a college fund? Many don't consider this as a variable...and realize too late that the $80,000 in debt they have will take a LONG time to pay off.

Answer 4

Here are some things to think about when choosing your college:

It has your major
Do you want to live on campus or off? What are the rules regarding freshman (can they have a car etc)?
Large Campus vs Small Campus
Class Size
Dorms available and what types (all one gender, alcohol tobacco free, co-ed)
How far is it from home?
In-State vs. Out-of-State
What is the community like?
Tuition

Narrow it down to a couple of choices and then schedule campus visits with the admissions department. Do not let admissions pressure you into anything.

After the official tour is over, walk around on your own and get a feel for the campus without someone trying to sell you something (lol...so I have a problem with Admission depts).

If after your visits are over and you didn't like any of the schools, come up with a couple more and repeat the process.

Answer 5

You can find your dream company to work for and ask them where they recruit. You can look at schools with good med/premed or journalism fields.

The best though is to start attending a local junior college. This is usually inexpensive and gets the basic classes out of the way that you have to take no matter. Take a few electives in the areas you are interested in and maybe a few you aren't. Make a decision what seems most interesting to you and research opportunities and colleges for that field. You can always transfer to another college. If money is a factor, smaller colleges are usually better.

My experience. AA in General Studies from a local Jr college. BA in Business: Management Information Systems from a local 4 yr. Got great job in large company due to high GPA, ability to pass their tests/interviews, and by looking for employment outside of local area using web.

Answer 6

Two things...

First, stay in state if you don't want to shell out the money. Out of state fees are ridiculous. From my personal experiences with colleges and finding jobs, they don't show any difference between state and private school also. So my pick would be a state school.

Second, when you want to pick a school, talk to people who work in the areas you would like to work. If you want to go medical, go to a hospital and talk to the people who work in areas that interest you. They'll tell you where they went to school and why is you just ask them. Do the same thing with the journalism. Talk to someone at the newspaper. Talk to the teacher of journalism at your school. They really help also.

I'm a teacher, so when it came time for me to decide, I went to college where the teachers I talked to told me was the best in the area. I graduated from college with my degree from there, and I had 5 job offers on the table when I graduated.

Good luck deciding on a school.

Answer 7

My dad is a management professor and though he has received job offerings from "brand name" universities, he deliberately choses to stay at the smaller ones. His motivation is this: at huge universities, a lot of professors who teach there are in it for research opportunities. They don't make the best teachers, because they're too focussed on the research instead of on the students. This also makes it impossible for them to teach every class themselves and to grade all of your papers and such. They get assistents and all, so less personal attention and less qualified and motivated teachers. The smaller universities usually don't have the money for the fancy-shmancy research and such and may not have the widest range of programs, but also pull in teachers who do just that: teach. Less research, more student attention and development, smaller classes.

This isn't always the case, though, so check out collegeboard.com and do a search. Decide what you want to major in and what kind of setting you want to be in and go from there.

The brand of your diploma doesn't really count, as long as it's accredited and you made the most of your education. Quality isn't in the name of a school, it's what's inside that counts.

Answer 8

I am going to Cincinnati because I found out that their architecture program is ranked the second highest in the country after Harvard. It also made sense to go there because I happen to live in Ohio and the tutition is much lower so I can save up money for graduate school. Cincinnati's architecture school also does co-op so you make money while working with some of the leaders in the profession in different parts of the country.

Answer 9

Ugh, well, I'm probably not the one to talk to about this...but I'm going to answer anyway. :) So, first you have to decide whether or not you're brave enough to go out of state, away from parents and friends and your hometown. For me, that was too big of a step, so I opted to go to an in-state university (Arizona State University). If you decide to stay close to home, I would advise you to still move out of your parents house and into a dorm so that you get the whole college experience. If you're thinking about going out of state, definitely look into which schools have great reputations in the fields you're interested in. Most Universities are famous for having one GREAT college (for example, ASU is famous for its engineering college). Also take into consideration whether or not you want to go to an infamous "party school" or one that is focused more on education. I suppose that's it...there are a lot of great websites out there....start looking!

Answer 10

Big name schools are just as great as smaller schools. I go to a pretty well recognized school and I love it!! I picked my school by going and looking at it. I had the hardest time but then when i went to open house and looked around campus I felt at home there.. go somewhere not based on where your friends are going or if everyones heard of it but on if you feel at home. remember it is your home for the next 4 years.