STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

theotherjess · Chanel

How to pick the right college?

jettie · Kate Spade

I picked my school based on a lot of factors - cost (public school with in-state tution was a big plus), prestige (I went to a top 25 school - I think this helped with getting a job after graduation, especially with a not so useful major like I had), location (I wan't to be away from home but still close enough to drive home), and overall feel, I loved everything about the school when I went to visit.

I think you should definitely visit, and if you can, stay with a student and go to a class. What about majors? Do both schools offer majors you are interested in? Living arragements - do most the students stick around on the weekends or do they go home? I liked the fact that my school wasn't a 'commuter school'.

HTH

relrel · Marc Jacobs

which schools are you debating on? you really need to visit and not just go and talk to some administrator. pick up the student newspaper. check out the student organizations and thier membership. go sit in a coffee shop on campus. browse through a class offering booklet. if you know what department you want to start in, hang around the department and grap a random person and ask about the department. a school can be the best on paper but still suck eggs. case in point: my bf goes to university of pennsylvania, ive league and all that, but the school sucks. they couldn't care less about the students, it's all money money money. worst comes to worst and you can't decide, go with the one that's gonna give you money....or the one with the best shopping.

again, a warning, the best school on paper isn't always the best school in practice. often, the bigger more well known schools are too big and too busy. in the end, putting a better school on your resume isn't going to mean as much if the professors didn't want to take the time to guide you in your studies and your future career choices. less known schools are often smaller and hence thier financial aid departments (and other departments, registrar and billing) are going to be more willing to take time to talk to you and explain things and generally give a damn.

theotherjess · Chanel

I've visited both more than two times and I'm fairly familiar with the stats (it's UF and UGA just in case you're wondering). I just wanted to know what influenced your decision the most.

Maddie · Coach

I pretty much copied and pasted this from something I wrote for ranchera earlier...

Some advice about applying for college, think about EVERYTHING! I pretty much made my decision of where I would go based on what I thought the student body's reputation was like, and how high they were rated academically. Although I did take into consideration things like location and course offerings, I didn't think about it too seriously. I knew I was going to school in a horrible town where it's snowy about seven months out of the year, but I just didn't think it would be an issue. Turns out it is and it really sucks. I also thought that most of the schools I was applying to had about the same course offerings and so that shouldn't weigh too heavily on my desicion. Another mistake. I went to college planning to major in bio, but our bio department is totally geared towards pre-meds and I wasn't into it at all. Then I wanted to do history, but they are very focused on western stuff, which I also didn't want to do. As a result I'm in my third choice major, poli sci. So I wish I would've thought more about how that affected me. Look up course offerings in majors other than the one you're planning on going into right now, you could EASILY change your mind. Anyway, there's my long winded answer about what you should look for and what I looked for. Also look for any special programs or something that they have that is unique to that school. My school's saving grace is that they have a five week term at the end of the year where you only take one class and I was able to go to India during that time.

I'm obviously kind of bitter so take my advice with a grain of salt. Unless you feel real strongly with a gut feeling either way, I would go with the school that has a better reputation. It's my opinion that you chose a school almost blindly because you probably don't know what you want and as much as you think you do, and you probably don't have a handle on what the school's about. I know that despite visits and research I didn't. Anyway, I pretty much went on gut feeling with a few facts to back it up and basically screwed myself. Again, I'm really bitter so don't listen to me too much.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

which one felt best then when you visited? where did you feel most "at home"? which one had more people that you would want to hang out with? because you seemed to have really gotten a feel for both schools by visiting, at this point it's a gut instinct kinda thing. do you get more excited for one of them? which one do you find yourself picturing yourself at and hanging out in dorm rooms with people?

added later: if you really really feel like you could be happy at either one, pick the one that will be less of a financial strain.

added later later: keep this in mind a year from now...it's okay to transfer if you hate where you're at. a college education is worthless if you aren't happy with something. those four years of your life are something to be cherished, don't stay somewhere where you aren't happy.
-- Edited by relrel at 20:27, 2005-11-29

-- Edited by relrel at 20:30, 2005-11-29

Lilykind · Hermes

I agree, consider EVERYTHING. I enjoyed the change of pace of living in a small town after growing up in suburbia a stone's throw away from NYC, but it got old. I would consider the amenities of the town you'll be in and what's within driving distance. What made my sophomore year bearable at such a small town school were frequent visits to larger cities with real shopping.

Also, transferring if you don't like where you're at is not a sin...it's the smart thing to do. When I transferred, I considered only two colleges because I knew that I needed to be in Los Angeles to pursue my career goals. I was looking most at location and how the schools would set me up for my career. Both schools would've been excellent for those purposes, so I just went with the one school that accepted me.

lynnie · Chanel

i know you said to disregard this- but i picked mine based on money. sad but true. in state vs out of state public school can be a BIG difference. I had to choose between two schools that were relatively the same, and that was really only the big difference- $10,000 a year. i would have been happy (or happy enough) at both, they both were good schools, and i knew that.

what are some of the differences between the two schools? what do you want from college? do you know what you want to study? which school would be better to have a degree from? do you have friends at either school? is the greek scene big at one school and is that good or bad for you? are they near a big interesting city? what distance do you want to be from home?

i preferred going to a large state school, knowing that some of my friends would be there, but that the school was big enough that i could form my own niche as well. in theory i would have preferred to be farther from home, but being about an hour from home was great for lots of diff. reasons.

lsubatgirl · Gucci

UF UF UF UF UF!!!!! Ok that's my personal opinion. I didn't go to either but I visited both of them when I was touring schools and I loved UF!!! Plus aren't you from Florida? While going away is nice I was always glad to be close to my family in case I needed them or they needed me.

UGA is a good school too so its really just personal preference.

Basically when I was choosing schools I went by gut feeling and where I thought I'd fit in the most.

-- Edited by lsubatgirl at 23:43, 2005-11-29

halleybird · Hermes

My mom always said that the right college should feel like "home" when you were on campus, sort of like you belonged there. Did you get that feeling at either school? I knew when I visited my college for the first time that it was perfect for me.

NCshopper · Hermes

halleybird wrote:

My mom always said that the right college should feel like "home" when you were on campus, sort of like you belonged there. Did you get that feeling at either school? I knew when I visited my college for the first time that it was perfect for me.

Exactly. When my family and I looked at schools, we went up and down ALL of California and none of the colleges felt right to me, or they were too close to home (I wanted to go a bit further away.......so I ended up in NC )

After we ruled out California, I decided to look at all the schools in NC and VA. We went to Davidson College, Wake Forest, Duke, Chapel Hill, Washington and Lee, and UVA. I was AMAZED at how I knew the one was "the one." The others didn't even compare. In fact, I applied just to that school with an early decision application and got in, I was THAT set on it. I remember very clearly walking around the campus of the school I ended up going to, thinking "my parents could just leave me here right now and I'd be fine." I didn't get that vibe from some of the other schools. I remember being at UC Santa Cruz also feeling the exact opposite, like you couldn't have gotten me out of there quick enough. I felt so out of place (which is weird, because I would have expected to like it there). So, I definitely recommend going to both schools to visit. If you can stay the night, great, but I wouldn't worry about it if you can't.

The other stuff like majors and location don't really seem like that big a deal of me, because chances are that what you think you want to major in now is probably not going to end up being your major. And you'll learn to adapt to locations pretty easily too (like being at a big school in a small town or vice versa), so I feel like that doesn't matter a ton. Whether or not you can have a car isn't really a big deal either--you'll make do with one or without one.

So, yeah, you do need to consider a lot of stuff, but go with your gut feeling after you visit. A lot of the things you think are important to you now in terms of picking a school may not be important to you after you spend a year there. And a lot of the things that become important to you later will be things you never thought you'd be interested in now. Case in point: the school I ended up going to was fantastic, but it was THE school that I absolutely refused to go to when I saw it on paper. I had never heard of it before (because I apparently lived in a closet) and I was dead set against going to a school I'd never heard of. But I went on the campus and my gut told me that was it. And it was. I had a amazing time, I majored in something that I had no interest in while I was in high school, and I ended up doing things I never thought I'd do (studying abroad and joining a sorority).

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

I let other people (parents, ex) pick both my undergrad and my law school, so fwiw, I think you should pick the college where you feel most comfortable and "fit" with the culture best. The schools I went to had/have factors that make them excellent choices on paper, but there's really no substitute for the opportunities you get when you really fit in somewhere. Also, not fitting in is completely miserable and just makes life harder than it has to be. My law school has a geek culture that's really sweet, but most of my day-to-day interactions are kind of forced because I don't care about that stuff. And my undergrad was really conservative, and I'm a liberal. Professors would completely assume women were going to be married, and class discussions were tailored like "should a woman stay home with the kids until they're in school, or just never work... "

So in both cases, I ended up with a lot of acquantiances, but very few real connections with like-minded people. This is bad because it seems like the best opportunities - unless you get into Harvard or somethign - come from finding people that you have a lot in common with and watching out for eachother. You want good friends that you can move in with after school to save money. And professors that you click with. And a culture that lets you feel supported. The people who weren't good students, but connected well with the culture came out of school with invaluable contacts. While I cringe every time someone asks me where I went for undergrad... So all the other US News factors never seem to count for much, imho.

jen · Kate Spade

Gosh, I'm at my 3rd school! The first was too small and too 'country hick town' for me. I thought I'd like the small town atmosphere but I kept getting weird looks with my outfits, things I did, things I said etc. Then I went to a community college to finish out the semester. Now I'm at a pretty large school. I also don't like this school but it's okay. While I love the actual classes and the girls in my sorority, the town itself is GHETTO. So don't only look at the school, look at the city as well and see if it's what you like. I personally cannot wait to graduate. Nothing to me feels like 'home' except for home! I hope you have better luck than me!

dixiegirl · BCBG

UF OR UGA?! EWWWWWWWWW

i'm so kidding. i'm at the university of south carolina so i haaaad to say something ;)

i personally like the UGA campus alot. but i couldn't go there because i've been a SC fan my whole life. sad, that's honestly how i made me decision. if i was choosing between those two i would pick the campus i liked the best & how far from home you would like to be. but i think that you won't go wrong with either of those schools.

IMO they're both really similar as far as the types of courses they have, their size, & especially similar in the types of people you will encounter.

i guess i'm not much help.

-- Edited by dixiegirl at 21:55, 2005-12-06

theotherjess · Chanel

Thanks so much for your replies! I am seriously confused though. I liked the atmosphere at UGA a hundred times more, but it's far from home and an hour from the airport. I have legacy at UF though and I've been raised a Gator. Plus I hate "cold" weather. I suck at making decisions. I find out from UGA this weekend...that should complicate things a bit more.

blubirde · Chanel

halleybird wrote:

My mom always said that the right college should feel like "home" when you were on campus, sort of like you belonged there. Did you get that feeling at either school? I knew when I visited my college for the first time that it was perfect for me.

I really agree with this. I went to UT (Texas) and the second I stepped on the campus, it felt like a whole new world was opening up for me. I actually FELT smarter and more alive walking around the campus. I generally love college campuses in general but UT stimulated me in ways I didn't know I could be stimulated (intellectually and socially, that is). I still feel that way and try to find a way to drive through the campus at least once a day. Dorky but true.

Law school, on the other hand, sucked ass at UT. So it really pays to pick the school that appeals to you intellectually and socially, imo. UT was great because it has a lot of programs that allow you to design your own curriculum and majors, which is cool if you don't fit into any of the categories they already have. (I didn't choose based on that but I realized how cool it was once I got there.)

What kinds of things are you interested in? I suggest making a list of things you like and then see which college has more of those things than the other.

Good luck!