Choosing a college is tough, tougher than a class exam, in my opinion. For an exam, you study some materials, take a test, and you’re done. Choosing a college requires extra work. Where can you afford to go? Do they offer your selected major? How far is it from your hometown? Can freshman have cars? Meal plans? Yada yada yada. There are SO many questions and considerations you have to go through when choosing a college, the place where you’ll spend the next 2-8+ years living at, the place that will be your second home.
As my senior year of college trickles around the corner, I think back to my college tours during my senior year of high school – the top things I personally looked for in a college. My first priority was, which colleges actually OFFERED my major? It would be pointless to tour and look into a college that did not offer the major you were aiming to go for. What if you fell in love with the college, only to be broken hearted in having to pick between a nice, beautiful college, or a career in what you really want? A little searching here, a little searching there and I had a list. My major is pretty ordinary – essentially every college offered it, so you can imagine just how long my list was.
For me, a big requirement in my “must” for choose a college is, does it feel like home to you? When you tour a college, can you see yourself walking around campus, going to class, hanging with friends, grabbing some lunch? If not, then I’d cross that school off your list. Feeling like you are home and like you belong is something that is important. Yes, you could always “get used to living there” as some would say, but for me, that’s a big no-no. If you don’t see yourself at a specific school, chances are you won’t in the future either. I toured campus after campus, until I found one that I fell in love with. It was a cold, rainy day actually – not a blue skies, sunshine, bird chirping kind of day. It was one of those, “I want to stay in bed and binge watch a Netflix series” kind of days, so walking around in the rain wouldn’t be classified as fun. But to me, I didn’t mind it. I toured this campus, going building to building, talking to people, taking the scenery in, and I felt like home. I saw myself running to class after I woke up late, or eating lunch at the tables outside with friends, and even enjoying the game room my college had. Every campus gives a different feel to every student. You may walk on my campus and not feel like home, but to me, this is my home.
The third characteristic in choosing a college that matters most to me is distance. Some people like moving away as far away as possible, some people like staying super close to home. Me? I’m in an in-betweener kind of person. I wanted to go somewhere where I was far enough to feel and be independent, but close enough where I could hop in my car and be home in an hour or two. I don’t think I, personally, could 4+ hours away, simply because I would not be able to go home as much as I want to. Sometimes, I come home every weekend, and others, I come home once every 1-2 months. If I lived 4+ hours away, I would most likely come home once every 2-3 months, simply because of how much gas would be, and planning that would need to be done. Plus, I couldn’t stay away from my family for that long, so I crossed all the “far away” colleges off my list.
Be smart with your decisions, but know that it’s okay if you choose a college, and don’t actually feel like you belong once you start attending. It’s okay to transfer! Don’t settle until you find your new home. It may take some time, but it will be worth it in the end. You want to look back on your college days in a positive way – “I may have been stressed about classes, but I loved the people and the campus!” rather than looking back on them in a negative way – “I hated classes, I hated campus, I hated everything.” Have fun, and enjoy college before you become an “actual” adult and join the “adult” world with an “adult” job. Those college years go by quick.
