How to Choose the Right College

After the Acceptance Letters: How to Choose the Right College

Springtime is finally here. For most of us, that means beautiful weather and more hours of daylight. For high school seniors, it means that a big decision has arrived: the decision of where to go to college.

Most college planning books glaze over this part of the process. They focus instead on things like college admissions testing, or applications, or essays, or campus visits. Certainly, these steps are all important parts of the journey toward college. The most crucial moment comes now, though, when you decide where you want to spend the next four years of your life.

By March or April, you will likely have heard back from most of the colleges to which you applied. The average college-bound high school senior applies to five or six different schools, which means you probably have at least half a dozen pieces of mail on the way from your prospective schools. But if you get accepted to all or most of the schools you applied to, how do you go about choosing where to go?

For many students (and their parents), this fork in the road is one of the most difficult parts of the entire college preparation process. Picking a school is a huge decision, one that opens up a whole world of possibilities while simultaneously closing doors on other potential futures. It’s not a decision to be made lightly, but unfortunately, it’s also not one you have an unlimited amount of time to make.

On the contrary, most schools have a May 1 deadline for you to accept an offer of admission. This deadline is known nationally as “College Decision Day,” and it’s an extremely important date for you to mark and circle in red on your calendar. On or before this date, most schools require you to submit a deposit to hold your spot. In addition, the housing application deadline for incoming fall 2019 freshmen falls the day after, on May 2.

In other words, it’s time to make a choice.

Below, we’ve run through a few tips that you can use to narrow down your list and pick the perfect school:

• Review your acceptances: To start, make a list of the schools that accepted you. Are any of the acceptances from schools you applied to Early Decision or Early Action? If so, your decision may already be made. If not, proceed to the next step.

• Compare financial aid packages: College is expensive, so it’s important to make affordability at least part of your consideration process when choosing a school. What kind of financial aid packages or scholarships have different schools offered you? If there are big scholarships on the table from certain colleges and not others, it might be appropriate to move those schools to the top of your list.

• Consider your college goals: What are you hoping to get out of college? Do you have a major in mind? Do you have a career you are aiming for? Are you hoping to participate in athletics? What extracurricular activities attract you? All these questions are important to ask, because certain colleges will be better suited to your goals than others. Considering those goals—both in terms of the college experience you want to have and in terms of what you want to do after college—is crucial to getting optimal value and ROI out of your tuition. If you aren’t sure of the answers, Right Path College and Career Planning offers a career-interest match service to help.

• Make a pros and cons list for each school: Especially if you find yourself torn between two or three potential schools, it can be helpful to pull out a piece of paper and make pros and cons lists for each one. Consider things like cost, location, size, available majors, and the reputation of the school or program. If you made campus visits in summer or fall before you applied, think back to those visits and what you liked or didn’t like about each campus. The more detailed you can get with your lists, the clearer it should become which school is right for you.

Remember: what constitutes the “right” college is going to be different for every student. Some people feel more comfortable at smaller schools, while others like the bustle and excitement of large university campuses. Some students are drawn to attend college in certain cities or geographical areas, while others want to stay within driving distance of home. Considering all these factors will help you make a choice you will be happy and satisfied with going forward.

Afterward

Once you’ve chosen your school, don’t forget the wrap-up process. You need to notify the college you chose that you will be attending and submit your housing application and deposit by the beginning of May. You also should notify the schools you didn’t choose, so they can offer your spot to another deserving student. And you should make an appointment to see your high school counselor, so that you can let them know which college you’ve selected, and they can send your updated transcript to the school.

Need Help or Advice? Contact Right Path Today

Even once the college acceptance letters have started to arrive, there is still plenty left to do and consider. At Right Path College and Career Planning, we are happy to work with students and their families to help make the crucial life decision of where to attend. Whether you need help working out the details of a financial aid package or want some advice about college and career goals, we are happy to sit down with you. Contact our offices in Traverse City, Michigan or Waxhaw, North Carolina to arrange a meeting or schedule a phone call with our skilled and knowledgeable advisors.