When considering where to pursue your higher education, there are many factors to consider: programs offered, location, campus culture, housing and dining options, school reputation, school size, student-teacher ratio, cost, distance from home.... the list goes on and on. What is the most important factor when choosing a college?
That's kind of a trick question, because the most important factor is not on the list above. The most important factor is college fit, which is a combination of all those factors and more; a combination that is unique to each student.
Consider briefly the following scenarios:
Maria
Maria always knew she wanted to be an engineer. When it came time to apply to college, she found the most prestigious, highly rated engineering school she could. The location wasn't ideal; she loved the mountains and the ocean, and the school school was located in an inland desert region, very far from home. But school is about learning, right? As an outgoing young woman, Maria generally spent a lot of time going out with friends, listening to music, dancing, and enjoying the night life. There wasn't much going on in the town where this college was located, but again, she was going to school to learn engineering, not to have fun. Maria and her parents were elated when the acceptance letter came, and she excitedly packed and prepared for her future. Unfortunately, halfway through the first semester, Maria became depressed. She missed her family, and didn't really want to be so far from home. The campus culture and the landscape left her flat, missing the mountains, her family, her friends. There were not many campus events to get involved in and she had trouble making friends. She started wondering if she really even liked engineering.
Steve
Steve was so excited when he received the acceptance letter from his dream school. He knew when he applied that it was a long shot, but he was accepted! Unfortunately, the financial aid offer was not so exciting. Tuition alone was $40,000, with another $15,000 or so in living expenses on top of that. His family was not rich by any means, but with a middle class income, Steve did not qualify for any state or federal grants. The school offered a modest scholarship of $8,000 per year to reward him for his good grades in high school. However, even with the university grant, $47,000 per year was a lot of money to be dishing out for college - over half his family's annual income. He had also been accepted to another very good school, which had a good reputation in the major he wanted and offered him a much more generous financial aid package. But this was his dream school, and the excitement of getting accepted overwhelmed any financial common sense. His first year was everything he had hoped for, though the classes were hard, and he worried when he talked to his parents, they seemed really stressed out.
By the middle of the second year, it was clear that paying the very high cost of this school was not sustainable; Steve was in his second year and had already accrued over $30,000 in student debt, in addition to the $25,000 his parents had taken out in PLUS loans. He contacted the other school with the generous financial aid offer; but that offer was only for incoming freshmen, not for transfer students. Steve had to take a year off to evaluate his options, then ended up going to the local state college and living at home to save money. This was not ideal; he had definitely not wanted to live at home; in fact he had really wanted to go to a totally different part of the country and experience new things. He did eventually finish his degree, but 15 years later, he (and his parents) still have hefty student loan payments, and his memories of his college years are tainted with disappointment.
Dylan
Dylan always wanted to live by the ocean. When it came time to apply to college, all his choices were in beach towns. He was looking forward to swimming, surfing, maybe even learning to scuba dive. He was interested in ethnomusicology, a very specific field that none of his beach college choices offered, but he figured he could study general music and learn the specifics of ethnomusicology on his own. When his acceptance letters came in, he picked the school with the best beach, and the best beach scene. During his first year, he loved going to the beach every day, but his grades suffered. He found he was not very interested in his classes. Dylan was from a small high school, and some of his introductory lecture classes had more students than his entire high school. He had almost no contact with his professors. Partway through his second semester, he found he just couldn't bring himself to care about his classes or his schoolwork. He kept going to the beach, which he loved, but he failed one class and barely passed two others. The following year, Dylan did not return to school. He had taken out $5000 in student debt, which he had to begin repaying while he figured out what to do next.
Jesse
Jesse had always been an outgoing and adventurous girl. She had dreams of traveling the world, making a difference in society. When it came time to think about college, Jesse decided the only thing she could afford was the local community college. It didn't really have the programs she wanted, and she really wasn't very excited about the prospect. Though her counselor told her she would probably qualify for significant financial aid to attend a university, and that she had many choices, Jesse didn't believe it and opted to stay home and go to the community college. By the end of the first semester, she was bored with her classes, bored with her life, and definitely bored with school. It felt like 13th grade; Jesse was not inspired, and it turns out the school had almost nothing she was interested in. She could do some general education classes, but she got busy with work and life, and dropped out halfway through her second semester. Her job was OK, and it paid the bills, but as she got older and started a family, it was harder and harder to cover the costs. She often wondered if things would have turned out differently if she had taken her counselor's advice and at least explored her options.
In Maria's case, there are plenty of excellent engineering schools. With a little research, she could have found one that had a good engineering program AND mountains, AND fun, engaging events on and around campus.
Steve, like many students, want blinded by the idea of the perfect school, and neglected to fully consider the downside of heavy borrowing. In general, it's a good idea to apply to at least 4 different schools, all of which you would be happy attending. Different universities have different policies for financial aid; some are much more dedicated to meeting student financial need, and applying to at least 4 schools will improve the likelihood that you will get a financial aid package that works. However, you need to keep your mind open, and not get fixated on just one of those schools. Money isn't everything, but it's not nothing, either.
Dylan was the opposite of Maria; he only considered location and fun, without regard to the experience of school itself. While he really enjoyed that year on the beach, he was left with significant debt, and not much educational progress to show for it.
Jesse made a very common mistake: in reviewing her options, she didn't factor in financial aid. With a modest family background, she probably would have qualified for enough aid to attend a university without accruing much, if any, debt. If her local community college had had educational programs that met her needs, it would have been a good option. In the end, however, it was a dead end and derailed her college dreams.
The moral of this story? With over 4000 colleges and universities in this country, there are probably dozens that are a good fit for you. Think about all of the following factors, and decide how important each one is to you:
- location
- school size
- distance from home
- educational programs offered
- campus activities
- cost and financial aid availability
- access to and attentiveness of professors
- academic support available
- health services (including mental health) offered
- housing options
- campus culture
Better yet, make your own list of what's important to you, and determine your own special mix that will provide the perfect educational environment for you, without saddling you with an unreasonable amount of student debt.
Talk to a college counselor for help in creating your unique perfect mix, and finding schools meet your needs. Be sure to complete the FAFSA, and factor in financial aid when considering cost (see previous posts - the college that looks least expensive is not always).
There are various resources online to help with your college search; one of my favorites is College Greenlight. You create a profile and it matches you with schools that might be a good fit. By doing your research, considering all the factors that are important in college fit, and aggressively pursuing financial aid and scholarships, you can avoid the problems above and instead have this kind of experience:
Clara
Clara had worked hard through high school. Her freshman year was a little rough, but she studied hard and brought her grades up. She knew when it came time for college, she wanted to go somewhere far from home, preferable a school with small class sizes where she could get to know her professors. She applied to 5 different colleges and was accepted to 4 of them. She compared the financial aid offers, and narrowed her choice down to two. The school that was her first choice seemed perfect, but the financial aid offer was not quite enough. She contacted the school and said though she would love to attend, it wouldn't work for her financially. The school increased her financial aid offer. It didn't quite cover the entire cost of attendance, but she figured she could work over the summer to make up the difference.
Halfway through her second year, Clara was thrilled with her experience. She had a couple bouts of homesickness the first year, but she got involved in campus activities and made friends at school. During the break between semesters, she spent a month exploring career options with an internship arranged by the school, exposing her to exciting fields she never knew about. Two years later, when she graduated, she reflected on all that she had learned, the skills she developed, and the experiences that changed her life. She graduated with very little student debt, and was able to quickly find a job in her field.
So take some time to think about what you need, what you want, and what you can reasonably afford (again - research financial aid policies at the schools you're looking at - some very expensive private colleges guarantee they will meet 100% of demonstrated student need, and they may not be that expensive after all). Then go out, and make your dreams come true!
