How to pick the right school

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"This decision will change your life, so make sure you give some real thought to it" - my high school guidance counselor. As if being a high school student wasn't hard enough, and then you have to make a everlasting decision.

I never really thought about college, and if I did I figured that I would just go to University of Rhode Island or Rhode Island College (not that there is anything wrong with state schools) But I figured that is where I would be going because everyone I knew studied there, it was just the sensible thing to do.

Except there was nothing sensible about me. I knew that I was destined for more. I started my college list as junior in high school, choosing big name schools like Columbia university in New York, and Pepperdine university in Malibu these choices would soon change based on primarly cost.

There are so many elements that come into play when picking a school such as;

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- Location, location, location: (One of the biggest reasons I attend Barry University, because honestly who doesn't love Miami, the sun the beach) whether you are from a small town looking to experience a big city, or are really interested in a school that is nestled into a college town like Florida State University. Location could be a defining factor in creating a college list and ultimately choosing a school. (Article linked from Time.com)

- Private or Public: Private university's and colleges tend to be much smaller than Public schools and in return usually offer limited number of choices in degrees. Tuition is another reason to really consider whether public or private is a factor, traditionally private schools have higher price tags because of there lack of public funding. (Petersons.com articled linked on their views on public and private university's for your convince)

- Religious Affiliations: Self explanatory, here is a list by Forbes.com of The 20 Best Religiously Affiliated Colleges

- Majors offered: A large number of students go off to college with undeclared or undecided and that is perfectly fine, but for the students that have a set career goal in mind (lawyers, doctors, business, etc.) Majors offered is a perfect way to narrow down their perfect school.

While I can go down what seems to be an everlasting list of factors that may effect choosing an ideal school (scholarships, acceptance rates, housing, etc.) Every person is different and what they value in a university may be different. So here is a list of websites that soothes the college search process:

• College board

• College Navigator

• College Results

• Cappex

My hopes in sharing this is that someone that was not considering college for their own personal reasons may reconsider.

Please feel free to send comments or questions to my email which is linked, thank you for your continuous support and be on the look out for my next blog post which will be all about FAFSA, scholarships and student loans.