How did you pick your college?

[MainStreet USA]

If you really have a good idea of what you want to do, look for a school that specializes in that field. That way, as long as you don't go changing your mind on what you want to do, it will be a great career boost for you to have a degree with that school's name on it. that's what i did anyway. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the world leader in aviation and aerospace further education. a few bragging rights: we have the #1 aerospace engineering program in the nation, we are the exclusive provider of pilot training to the US Air Force Academy, and we have the largest (and frequently awarded the best) AFROTC program in the nation, (not including the AF Academy itself, of course). Seeing as I always wanted to be a pilot and was seriously considering doign the air force thing, ERAU was a no-brainer.
Now.. if only I can figure out how I'm going to pay it off this millenium!

PS: I ended up dropping AFROTC after two years, but I'm still flying as a civilian!

 

[kandeebunny]

I went to prep school and we started looking at colleges freshman year. I chose my school junior year, it was an all girls school, 600 girls in Boston. It was the only school I ended up applying to, got accepted, went and hated it.

I now am a commuter student at UNH and love it. I am now looking in to grad schools though and it's the same thing all over again. A school I said no way to for my undergrad work will probably be where I end up. It's ironic really.

 

[disneyfan05]

to tell you the truth, i only applied to one college. i went on a visit and i loved it. plus, they accepted me, so i found no reason to reapply to any more colleges. it was my first choice, so i just went for it. just follow what you like, and have fun during the process!!!!

 

[tubachick]

My first choice of a college was not where my parents wanted me to go, So I followed there directions -- state school with in driving distance, well that school is six hours away!!! I didn't even visit the school, but I went, joined a ton of stuff, and graduated from there anyway!!!--- showed them huh???

 

[DHSsenior007]

I'm a sophomore in HS, and I have no idea where I want to go. My parents want me to go to Texas A&M, it's about 6 hours drive from here, but I'm not sure. So far, I'm planning on being a psychology major, but no one is telling me what is THE best psychology school out there, or at least one of the best. When I visited A&M, it was during the summer so the campus was empty, so I might not have felt 'it' because it was totally deserted. My parents want me to stay in the state of TX, but they would let me go else where.

 

[MainStreet USA]

DHSsenior007 - unfortunately, psychology is one of those majors that you can find almost anywhere, making any single one school to stand out for it quite hard to come across. I could be wrong, and I invite anyone to correct me if they've heard of a school that specializes in and has outstanding credentials in the psy field. But I think that in your case, instead of focusing your search on psy alone, try looking at what else is going to make you happy in your school. Will you be able to fit in with the other students? Will you have stuff nearby that you will like to do? Will you be able to keep in close touch with your old HS buddies? Will you appreciate the climate and atmosphere? There is a lot more to picking a college than just the academics. make sure you look at the big picture.

I chose my school based primarily on academics. I don't regret it, because it is so specialized in aviation, and I'm sure it will benefit my career someday. But if it weren't such a well-known name in the industry, I would never have chosen it. It's like 90 bazillion miles from home (actually 1200, but you know what I mean), all my friends are back home in CT or in nearby New England States, my school is like 85% male, and Florida in general is just not for me. I like my mountains and scenery, and my four distinct New England seasons. In Florida, it's all flat. The biggest mountains are all in Disney. And the only seasons we get are summer and next summer. It gets to be real dullsville here for me sometimes. The best part is of course being an hour from WDW. If it weren't for that, I'd be going nuts down here.

Sorry if that was discouraging. But good luck in your search!

 

[cheerdancer11]

Hey MainStreet, USA, do you go to Embry-Riddle? Someone from my dad's work goes there, i know they are a huge aviation school in FL. Its gonna be so hard picking a college, i dunno how im gonna do it

 

[mzzzh]

along the lines of minkydog's reply.....I am also an oldster who went to college years ago...my sole criterion was that I be as far away from my parents as possible! How's that for an informed choice! And since they weren't and didn't pay for my college education, my parents pretty much didn't get much say on the matter.

 

[boo's mom]

I picked my college, Virginia Commonwealth University, because it was very close to home, I'm receiving financial aid, and I could still stay at home with my grandparents because they didn't want me to leave in the first place and I have a home here until something happens to them, God forbid. I don't have time to work while in college so thats another benefit of staying home. I wouldn't be able to survive if I couldn't stay here. It would have to be work instead of college. Unfortunately, we don't have much money, but I've learned to live with what I have

 

[Troy08]

Seriously look at the debt you will be incurring when picking a school.My daughters choices were a private school in Mass. where she would graduate with 25,000.00 in debt or a well respected branch of our state university where she will graduate with apx. 8,000.00 in debt. We will be able to pay sophomore year in full. A dream school looks great before the reality of paying back student loans set in. Some ofd my friends daughters will be in debt close to 50,000.00 when they graduate. I have learned that many colleges underestimate the apx. 4 year debt. Whatever they tell you automatically add 3-4 thou to the total.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

I would say you need to balance out several points.

1. Size
2. Location
3. Programs
4. Financial Aid vs. Costs
5. Type of school

However, the most important factor is how you feel at the school. I went to DePauw (great liberal arts college in Indiana) b/c of scholarship. I couldn't afford the other schools that were "better" rankings wise (national universities), but it turned out much better. I actually got my internship at Disney through a DePauw contact. If you want a specialized program, go larger. If you want preparation for being a professor, manager, etc., I would HIGHLY suggest a liberal arts college. I am actually in law school now (@ Vanderbilt), and my DePauw education prepared me REALLY well for it. Best of luck!

 

[M<3'sMickey]

Well, I dunno if you're still looking at this but the way I picked my college was like this:
1. I knew I wanted to commute to school. Sharing a bathroom with people I don't know in a private room or in a community bathroom!?! I think I'll pass. The school had to be within 30 driving minutes of my house.
2. $$$$- the almighty dollar had a lot to do with it. I looked at Fordham in the Bronx which was, as far as I'm concerned, costly, and then I looked at Pace University in Pleasantville, NY (though they do have a city campus, FYI), and Pace was less.
3. Fordham sorta had a childhood education program. Pace had a very strong one that schools in the area were impressed with if you said you graduated from Pace.
4. Scholarship money- Again, the almighty dollar. Fordham offered me $3,500 a year because I commuted. That's it. Pace, on the other hand, said, based on SAT scores, $7,000 a year, plus Honors College came knocking and offered an additional $2,000, a laptop, $1,000 when and if you choose to study abroad in your junior year, and some other stuff I can't remember.

My choice? Pace, hands down. Not only is closer to my house, but hell, will all the money I saved from getting their scholarships, I can get my Jeep Wrangler now!

I hope this helps. And since you're looking for schools in the general vicinity, if you're interested in Pace, you can ask me any questions you want!

 

[CrazyDreamer]

Because I want to eventually go to med school, I decided to start out with a community college about a quarter of a mile from my high school. I'll have friends there, and I'm getting 18 units for under $500. Not a bad way to start out.

 

[nmudisneyfan]

I knew that I wanted to go to NMU when I was a sophomore in high school.
My parents had driven by the campus when we were camping up by Marquette.
I fell in love. Plus I love the UP. It's so pretty!
When it came time to apply to college, I was quick to fill out my application for NMU. My mom had wanted me to apply to 2 other colleges. I ended up applying to Grand Valley, but hated it there when I went on the campus tour. I only applied to Grand Valley to stop my mom from nagging me.
I'm starting my 5th year at Northern in the fall. And I still love it up here! The people are friendly and helpful. My university is great as well. Plus, it gorgeous here in the fall.

 

[missj171]

Well here in the UK fees are the same wherever you go in the country, and you pay them wherever you go, so that wasnt part of the decision making.

I think a major decision maker was the feel of the place, when I visited it it just felt like somewhere I could live. While other uni's fell like somewhere I could visit, but not be at home there. I think that was a good way to go, where you are can make a huge difference!

I applied to unis all over the UK (although even the furthest one is probably not far to you americans!) but in the end picked one that was about 2-3 hrs drive, 1.5-2 hrs train ride from home. Which is a nice distance, not too far but gives you the break you need.

I picked on the reputation of the Uni equal to, if not above, the reputation of the course. The name of your Uni means something, and while Im not at Oxford or Cambridge (which Im so glad about!) I know my Uni has some kudos in the working world. I ended up changing my course (here in the UK we dont 'major' we just do one course the whole 3 years) so it was good that I picked a good Uni overall, not just for one subject.

My advice would be to visit and see if you can imagine yourself there,consider what your degree will mean when you leave, and what you want it to mean.

Im only a few hours from home, but without being able to drive, and with having to work part time and other commitments I only get home about once a term (3 months). If that would upset you then think carefully, but you mind find that after the first session you get used to more phone calls and less contact with home and are glad you can be independent.

 

[cornonda]

I chose to go to Laurier based on my visit there. At first I was determined to go to UG, but because agriculture is their big thing there, I decided against it.

Laurier (this is in Canada btw) is a small campus, it takes only three minutes to get basically anywhere, and it has tons of spirit. Plus, the area that it's in is minutes away from another university, so the whole town is full of students.

I, like other posters here, chose what felt right, and what would go with my personality, as well as if they had a strong department in my major.

It turned out to be the perfect school for me, and I'm looking forward to going back! It's also only about half an hour away from home, so if I need to get out of there for a weekend to work on a project while my roommates are partying, it can be done!

 

[uptown_girl44]

I had a couple of questions for the people that go to schools in upper michigan ... i live in southern michigan right now and am i senior in high school. I'm thinking about applying to NMU because i've heard alot about their music program and have met a couple of the professors.
This might seem like a weird question but i've heard that the u.p gets like 9 feet of snow in the winter and was just kinda wondering if that was true?

 

[TinyLolitaBunny]

well I was lucky to find mine, my friend wanted to go there so i looked through her catalog and talked to her about it and stuff. it was hard to find schools with my major-i want to go into animation- that were not far away and also didnt only offer computer generated stuff. but i didnt decide on it right away. i have visited there three times now. also, i researched online to see things like what schools did disney prefer to hire from? and they were on this list, along with another school i am considering. id figure out where i want to live first (for example i hav e always wanted to live in NYC plus it is close enough to home to visit and see my 5 and 4 yr old siblings. but you might want to venture out farther) and then think about the job you want, if you know what it is, and research that. also i am going to community college for a year and even though it stinks to be staying home an extra year i totally reccomend it because you will save so much money! especially if your school will accept transfer credits.

and visit! it makes a huge difference.

 

[DaisieJ225]

I go to a Community College because i still don't know what i want to do with my life and I felt that if i could get part of my college education at a cheaper price then i would do that. I also wanted a school that was close to me so that i could stay home and still live with my parents. next year I'm planning on moving away though.

 

[tiff13]

I had a couple of questions for the people that go to schools in upper michigan ... i live in southern michigan right now and am i senior in high school. I'm thinking about applying to NMU because i've heard alot about their music program and have met a couple of the professors.
This might seem like a weird question but i've heard that the u.p gets like 9 feet of snow in the winter and was just kinda wondering if that was true?

They haven't gotten that much snow in awhile. Although when it snows, it isn't unusual to get a foot at a time. The only problem with that is, Marquette is super hilly. So if you need to drive somewhere, you have to be on top of things. But other than that, its an awesome town.