How do I figure out which college is right for me?

Hey there,

What year are you? Just curious as to how much time you might have before you would apply?

1) Do you like warm weather or cold?

2) Do you prefer the city, the suburns or the rural?

3) What size of school do you attend now? Do you feel it is the right size? Would you prefer it to be bigger? Smaller?

4) How do you plan to pay for college? Are you parents covering it or do you need financial aid?

5) Do you know what you MIGHT like to major in? Favorite subject?

After you can answer those questions, then you can plug them in to your naviance acct? or the College Board acct and it will send you some suggestions.

After you get the suggestions, go to the websites and look at their admissions page.

If you can, visit some local schools...large vs small. State school vs private? Suburban, city or rural. All close to home so that you can just get a feel.

Adriana, this is a very important question so you don't waste time and money. You need to find the best value for your money that fits your personality type and supports your vision for where you are going and want to go in life. Once you know that, the options can run the gamut from on-line, to community college, to 4 year undergrad, grad, etc. I would break this down into 3 steps: 1. Know Yourself, 2. Research options - including best value and likelihood to be admitted. 3. Commitment

Know yourself - I have a 4 step program for this, but it's know your personality type, know your talents and strengths, know what you care about (sectors of the world), and know your values. Going through this process will ensure the college is the right fit for you and supports your vision/mission.

Research options - this is researching schools, talking to people and getting the lay of the land. then assessing which match your above criteria and then doing the cost/benefit and admissions probability analysis.

commitment - is just that, committing confidently because you've successfully completed steps 1&2. Good luck!

Hey, that is a great question. I have been in five different colleges so I am so glad I came across this question. Once you have your tuition budget, desired city, applied for financial aid, you have to decide on the hardest part, your major. Although, you can pick a school with a variety of majors and than do all the pre-requisite classes to figure out which one you like. Some colleges are known for their business programs, social work programs, nursing, etc. I would also look into what is available on each campus, such as gym, pool, library, computer lab, writing center, tutoring center, all that good stuff. When you apply, apply to at LEAST ten so your options are open if anything changes last minute. Good luck!! You will do great.