Flickr user Jeremy Willburn
While it is absolutely critical to know which factors to take into consideration when making your final college choice, it is just as important to know what factors should not influence your final college choice—at least, not solely or even having a big influence.
Listed below are factors that shouldn’t influence your final college decisions:
Where Your Childhood Friend, Sibling, or Significant Other is Attending
The thought of leaving all friends, siblings, and SO’s behind and moving away to college can be scary and sad.
However, giving up on your long-term career goals so you can spend more time with someone is more than likely to end disastrously. You can always make time to text, call, Skype, or maybe even visit. However, you won’t get another chance of earning the degree that will allow you to pursue your dream career. Don’t give up your goals and aspirations for someone else.
Making Your Parent’s Dreams Come True
Your dad or mom may want you to choose a particular school because it was their alma mater and they have some lovely memories of their time spent on that campus.
Or maybe they want you to choose a particular school because it was one they dreamed of attending but they could not afford it. Now they want to make their dreams come true through you. While that is understandable, choosing a school, for this reason, may not be in your best interests.
You may have a different set of talents and skills as your parents. Maybe you have a clear goal of following a major not offered by that school. Moreover, your personality may not be well-suited to that particular campus, making for a bad experience overall. To get the best from your college experience, you need to choose a school that is the best fit for you and you alone.
Reputation of the School
While it is a matter of great pride to have a graduation certification from the best school in the country, it is not worth it if you chose to attend that particular school solely on the basis of its reputation. What is more important is to consider whether the school offers what you are looking for or not. That includes academic programs, extracurricular activities, level of competition among peers, campus atmosphere and classroom sizes.
Freshman Dorm Rooms
The freshman dorm rooms of some colleges may be lacking in some way or the other. But, a less-than-stellar dorm room is not reason enough to reject a college. If the college outshines the others on your list in all other categories, it is definitely worth choosing it. Considering you will live in the freshman dorm for only one year, it is not worth letting that influence your final college choice.
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