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A perfect college is what a student wants. Finding a college that fits you is an overwhelming task and it is often difficult to understand where to begin. This article will discuss the steps following which you will be able to make a list of your preferable colleges. Here are some steps that you should follow.
Identifying Your Priorities and Preferences
Every college has its respective facilities and programs that differentiate them from others such as size, location, fees, and academic programs. You must first decide what do you want from your college in the sense of social and academic environment, and then begin your search by exploring the primary and secondary factors.
Primary Factors
Location– You have to decide whether you want a college that is close to your home or far away. If you opt for an in-state school then your tuition fees will be low. But if you consider a college in a small town or somewhere far from your location, then the environment will impact your happiness and comfort level.
Size– In small colleges, you might get personalized attention but they might not have sufficient resources and may also lack diversity. But irrespective of the size there are also some characteristics that a college has that will make you prefer one over the other.
Academics– You are going to a college for gaining knowledge, to learn new things, and build your career. You should find colleges which are reputed for providing the course that you want to pursue. Your grade also plays an important role here; you should look for a college where you have high chances of admission according to your grades.
Costs– Tuition fees is also a factor that you should take care of during your search, but don’t prevent yourself from applying to a college due to high tuition fees. It would be better if you look for colleges that provide merit scholarships.
Secondary factors
Social Environment– This factor is not that important but you should have some idea what kind of social environment you want to have in a college.
Housing and dining – If you want a college away from your location or home town then you must check whether the college provides housing and dining facilities.
Athletics and Extracurricular activities-According to State University, extracurricular activities at colleges aim at developing a versatile individual by impacting student’s social, intellectual, and intrapersonal skills positively and athletics play an important role in keeping them fit and develop a sporty attitude.
Using an online college finding tool
After mapping down all your preferences, the next step that you should perform is to use an online college finder tool to search for the college that meets your preferences. Such online tools provide you with all the statistics of different colleges according to the location, size, and tuition fees specified by you. Some of these online tools also link with the application pages of the colleges where you can also find the admission criteria of the respective colleges.
Considering the Reputation and Admission Chances
After mapping down all your preferences and listing down the suitable colleges that might suit you, you must check whether you have chances of getting an admission according to your grades. You should go to the colleges where you have greater chances of admission. You can also use some online tools that will tally your grades with the cut-off of the colleges and help you evaluate the chances of getting admitted to the college.
Making of the Final List
This is the final step in the process of the college search. It is not possible to get admissions in all the colleges that you have listed down, you should select some of the colleges and make them your first priority and the rest should be kept as safety options.
Conclusion
These are the steps that you must follow to figure out which college fits you the most. Besides academics, there are other factors also that you must keep in mind while searching for a college that best fits you. Following these steps and keeping in mind all the necessary factors will help you in making a list of multiple colleges from which you can choose the one that best fits you.
