Choosing where you want to go to college may be the hardest decision out there. You have to figure out how many students you want to be surrounded by, your student-to-staff ratio, the location, weather preferences, etcetera etcetera. In this process, Google becomes your best friend. You can chat on forums, find Instagram pages, and in some cases, get in contact with local liaisons to the university to ask as many questions as you want about student life.
If you're like me, even then, you're clueless. I started by looking within. As cheesy as it sounds, it helped me. For class size, each room at Woodland High School could house about thirty people. In most of my classes, however, there was an average of sixteen students. I definitely preferred a more intimate classroom. Conversations were stronger and more in-depth, and you could receive more help from your teacher because of so few students. This helped me narrow down my student-to-staff ratio.
Location-wise, I wasn't exactly stoked that my school was right next to the interstate and the outside was always very loud. This helped me look for schools outside of a city or town, but still close enough that I could still get my daily coffee. In my choices, you'll find that they're all on the outskirts of a major city, far from constant traffic. Unfortunately, weather comes hand in hand with a location. I live in Washington as I write this, the weather being thirty-nine degrees outside with pouring down rain. Not my favorite. I've applied to six universities in California and two in Arizona. (Notably warmer climates)
Finally, if you're still stuck, I love using CollegeVine to help me. There's a simple five-minute quiz you take to help determine your desired demographics, and you immediately get suggestions from all around the world. You can use filters like which state you want to reside in, student size, your future degree, and most importantly, the cost associated with attendance. I hope this helped, and good luck with your search!
- Kara