How to Pick a College
Transcript
Today I wanted to answer the question: How to pick a college.
So, the first thing that you have to do is be admitted to college.
Now I have another video about how to apply to college, go and watch that if you haven't seen it and I'll include a link below. But you have to get some options on the table before you can pick a college.
So, as I go through this video, I am assuming that you have already been admitted to colleges, you have options on the table, and you have choices to make. If you don't have them yet, go through the admission process first and then come back and watch this. It will make more sense.
Now there are four things I would tell you to consider when you are picking your college.
How to Pick a College, Criteria # 1
The first is how does the school rank nationally?
Are they nationally renowned school? Are they not very well known? Are they kind of a local school?
This is important to consider because overall, and this is not the end all-be all, but it's kind of a judgement on how well the school teaches. So consider how well they rank nationally, particularly, how well do they rank on the specific program you are interested in compare to other programs.
Is it one that is specifically known for the great work that they do? Is it one that you don't know that much about or it is one that's not as well know? Something to consider.
If the program is well known and it's very good, that's a huge indicator that you should be considering going to that school.
Something else to consider, and this is kind of a non-formal way of checking how well the school is, go to RateMyProfessors.com. You can go there and click on find a school and type in the school you are considering or you can find it on their little United States map there.
And, when you search for the school you can not only find out how their professors are ranking but you can also find out how the school, itself, ranks among the students that go there. And yes, you will find some biased information by people who are upset.
But that's okay, factor that in to what they are saying. See if it's a ligament concern, specifically within the course of study.
An easy way to do this is to go to the school's website, particularly the program you are interested in, and click on their list of faculty and look them up on RateMyProfessor.com and see what kind of information you get back from that.
How to Pick a College, Criteria # 2
The next thing you need to consider is how much is the tuition for the school and how much are you willing to pay.
If the school is going to be out of state, you are going to pay significantly more because you are going to have to pay out-of-state tuition. If it is school in state, where you have been residing for the last few years, it might not be nearly so much. So that is something to consider, how much is the tuition going to be.
And, also, considering how much are the other expenses going to be, your living expenses. You are going to have to live somewhere, you are going to have to eat, you are going to need transportation, not to mention there are textbooks and student fees as well.
So you are not going to want somewhere that is going to make you super high in debt and get a bunch of student loans. Specifically if you are majoring in something that isn't going to pay that much or you might not be able to get a job immediately out of school- things to really consider here.
Tuition is very important. If it's going to be a really high amount of tuition and you are going into something that isn't going to really make you a lot of money over the long time, you might want to reconsider going to that school.
How to Pick a College, Criteria # 3
Third, did the school offer you any financial aid and can you get financial aid through that school.
When you applied, did you apply for any financial aid and what did they come back with? Did they offer you a full ride scholarship or did they offer you a small amount per semester? Maybe they didn't offer you anything.
This has a huge weight in my mind when it comes to what school to go to, because if it's going to save you lots and lots of money in the long term, over the course of your college.
If you can graduate debt free, without having to take out a student loan, that's going to give you a super advantage over how much you will earn over your lifetime because you won't have to be paying on student debt for as long, or at all.
So, did they give you financial aid? How much? Is it a lot or a little? And how does that compare to the other schools you got admitted to and would this school still give you a good education? Maybe not the best, but would it still give you and adequate education?
If yes, then go there! Go there! And save the money. You won't have to pay as much tuition and other fees.
How to Pick a College, Criteria # 4
Now, of course, financial aid is not the end all-be all, which brings us to our last requirement- your gut feeling.
What is your gut telling you? What are your instincts? What are you feeling? Are you kind of leaning more toward one school than another? Are you more wary of one school over another? Are you really inclined to go to a certain school? Listen to those instincts and listen to those feelings. Learn to trust them.
How to Pick a College, Criteria Summary
Again, how to pick a college:
-First, get admitted.
-Next find out how the school ranks nationally and how does the program rank comparable to other programs? How much tuition are you going to have to pay to get through the program of study?
-Were you offered any financial aid?
-And consider what your gut is telling you.
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