Choosing a college is a major decision to make. For many young people, this is the first big life decision they’ve ever encountered, and it can be hard to understand exactly what goes into a decision like this and how to get it right. Before this time, it’s often parents, guardians, and teachers who make most of their choices for them, but this one – their college – should be down to them.
This is why it’s important to know what to consider if you are at the point of deciding which college to attend. If you are someone about to make that choice or you know someone who is, the following points should help.
Chances Of Acceptance
Something that can easily be forgotten when you start making the decision about which college to go to after high school is your chance of acceptance to that college. This can be an invaluable tool because it helps you narrow down your options and ensures that all the hard work you put into each application will be worth doing.
In the past, it would have been hard to determine exactly what your chances at each school would be, but today there are ways you can find out, including using a college admission calculator. If you input your data into this online tool, you’ll find what your chances of acceptance are at various schools, potentially making your choice an easier one.
Major Programs
Once you know what your college acceptance chances are, you can look at the colleges on your shortlist in more detail. One key aspect is to consider the differences in their major programs.
To begin with, you need to ensure that the school you are interested in has the actual major that you want to study and that will help you in your future career. This is the main point of attending college in the first place, so it’s a crucial aspect not to overlook. Then it’s worthwhile considering how well received and reviewed that program is. Would it be worth attending a different school with a more prestigious reputation, for example? Is this course worth the money you’ll need to pay to attend it?
Extracurricular Opportunities
Your major (and any minors you might want to take) is crucial and has to be the main focus of any application and decision. However, it’s also important to take into account any extracurricular programs the school might offer. You’ll be studying hard, but you won’t be studying all the time, and it’s vital to have some hobbies or other interests to keep yourself motivated and to give you a chance to relax and unwind, as well as meet other people.
So what additional opportunities does the school you might want to apply to give its students? Is there a drama group, a choir, a cycling team, a school podcast, a radio station, or a newspaper, or maybe a Dungeons and Dragons party? What could you do if you weren’t in class? Although this might not seem like an important detail, it could make the difference between enjoying college life and merely tolerating it, and that’s an important distinction. It could even make a difference in your grade.
