Not to stress you out or anything, but choosing a college is one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make in your life. Haha, kidding, you’re probably super stressed anyway and I’m not the first (or even tenth) person to tell you that.
When it comes to choosing a college, a lot of people advise you on things to look for but will neglect to tell you what not to look for. I don’t know if it’s adults attempting to grant their young adult children independence or if everyone’s too prone to sugarcoating things, but I’m not your mom. Unless my unborn future offspring are reading this, then hello. I’m your mom and you should come talk to me instead of reading this. I digress.
Here’s what a lot of people are probably too kind to tell you although this is probably what you need to read. Here are mistakes to avoid when choosing a college. While I can’t make your decision for you (you definitely wouldn’t want me to anyway), I can help you in your decision making process.
1. Choosing based on where your friends are going to college
Not to be overly blunt or negative, but if your friendship is meant to be it can survive long distance. Never choose a college because your friends are going to it. College is about you. It’s time for you branch out, meet new people, learn and discover yourself, not to follow the same friends you had in high school.
2. Focusing on how nice the dorms are
I almost chose the wrong college for me because that college had gorgeous suite-style freshman dorms and the college I ended up choosing had uglier, smaller ones. Most dorms get better as you move up and all college living situations have their ups and downs.
It might be appealing to choose a college whose rooms are spacious and nice but don’t let this be the main factor or a major factor in choosing your college. Hopefully, you won’t be spending a lot of time in your dorm because your college will have so much going on that you’ll want to participate in and see. Plus, there’s always decorations and personalization that can be used to make a dorm even nicer.
3. Obsessing over the ratio of guys to girls
You might not have even thought about this, but for some reason, I kept checking this for every college and thinking it was super important that the school have an almost even ratio. Ultimately, who cares?
Wherever you attend college you will find friends and have plenty of peers to socialize with regardless of the gender ratio of your college. This also applies to a lot of other miscellaneous ratios that are often found on college websites. Your decision shouldn’t necessarily come down to statistics, but they should be somewhat considered.
4. Listening to the online reviews from disgruntled students
While these are addicting and fun to read online, take them with a grain of salt. Scratch that, take them with a gallon of salt. You don’t know both sides of the story nor do you know how much truth is in the post. You also have no idea who’s posting it. While these can occasionally be helpful, they’re often just as valuable as reading random comments on a YouTube video.
5. Deciding based on your significant other
Never follow anyone to college. Don’t pick a college based on your boyfriend or girlfriend of the moment. If you’re meant to be, you’ll be able to toughen up and do long distance. Never sacrifice your dreams and desires for the sake of someone else and don’t be with someone who would even want you to do so.
On a side note, If you and your S.O. do end up choosing the same college, make a point to establish your lives there independently. Don’t stay up each other’s asses for the entirety of your first semester. You’ll definitely regret it. You’ll also have a difficult time should you two ever break up.
6. Following the footsteps of your parents/older brother/cousin
While you should consider your parent’s opinions, legacy and thoughts on colleges, don’t let them decide your college for you. This is important to remember when visiting colleges where your family member was an alumnus. Just because they loved it and it was perfect for them it doesn’t mean it’s where you belong.
That being said, don’t totally write off a college because your parent or sibling went there. I almost did this with my current college because my dad was an alum and I didn’t want to just follow his footsteps, but I realized the college was a perfect fit for me regardless of my dad having gone there or not.
7. Picking the easiest option
The easiest route isn’t always the happiest one. It might be easiest to choose the college closest to home, it might be easiest to choose the college your mom went to or it might be easiest to choose the easiest college to get into, but it might not be your best option.
When you’re choosing a college, you’ll face difficult decisions and choices but don’t avoid them just for the sake of playing it safe.
8. Weighing the tour & tour guide’s opinions too heavily
When touring colleges, keep in mind that the tour guide is being paid to convince you to come to that college. Due to this, you can bet they’ll be showing you the highlight reels (and sometimes might even be exaggerating some features or positives). Tour guides are valuable resources and tour should be taken into account, but don’t base your decision on having an awesome tour guide. Don’t base your decision on having an awful tour guide either.
A great tip when touring campuses is to observe or even speak to non-tour guide students. These students aren’t getting paid to sell you on the school and oftentimes they’ll be happy to chat.
In addition to that, it’s great to have a beautiful campus but be sure to look beyond sprawling greens and river views. A gorgeous campus is a perk, but keep in mind that there’s more to college than the campus. You won’t be spending all of your time lying in green grass and taking classes in the river.
What do you consider when choosing a college?
