Some people have a very difficult time choosing a college to go to. This can be a very stressful time. There are many things to consider, between where to go, how big you want, if you want to stay in state, financial situation, and if you’re commuting or housing. All of these factors play a huge part in choosing where to go. It is also very important you really like where you go, because that’s where you will be for 2-10 years. Choosing a college is prioritizing your academic, personal, and financial needs.
For starters you need to think about the major you intend on going for, location, and size of campus. With this you can break it down to a list of safety, target, and reach schools. A safety school is a school that you know you will probably get into and it’s a good backup option. A target school is a school that is in the perfect reach for you and it is on track for the way your academics and financial state are. Lastly, a rich school is a school that would be harder for you to get into.The location is very important when choosing a college because you want to really like the environment that you are going to be staying in. The size of the school also really matters because you want to be around the amount of people you are comfortable with so you enjoy it and you can be social. The main priority with choosing is probably financial state though. Choosing the right college is always going to depend on how much money you/your family is willing to spend on your education.
Recently I talked to a student here at Timberlane and she is a senior this year.Her name is Abby I asked her about how she chose her college and she said,, ¨ I knew I wanted something on the bigger side and I was going for nursing. I also wanted a more quiet area that also had some sort of a city close by. I ended up committing to UNH because it fit all of my standards.¨
From some personal experience with committing to college I started off with eight options. I knew I didn’t want to leave New England and I knew I wanted to go into nursing. Some people may not think so but knowing these two things is a great start. Then between my 8 options I narrowed down that I did not want to go to a super big school. This narrowed it from 8 to 5. After this I realized that two of my options weren’t for me. After touring the school , one of them was just way too far. This helped me get my options from 8 to 2. In the end my options were Rivier University and Keene State College. After receiving financial aid offers and numerous tours and research I ended up choosing Riv.
Both of these scenarios go to show that it is not easy to pick a school and that there are so many factors that play into iut but if you have a good support system around you and people guiding you though it it gets easier.
Once you have your base of wants it gets much easier to narrow down. At the beginning of my college process I thought for sure I would never figure out where I wanted to go. 2 short months later I was committed to college shopping for dorm decorations.
