Tips for Choosing a College That Meets Your Needs
By Gloria Daniels
Choosing a college that meets the student's needs and preferences is a process that can often divide a family in half. Parents have preferences that often are emotional as well as financial. Students feel they should be the person making the decision since it is their life and they will be spending the next four years at the school of choice. Use the ideas below to help sort out some of these issues. These ideas may also open up meaningful discussion between parent and student so that each party may see another point of view.
In order to help the process of choosing a college move along smoothly, try to take as much time as possible to do your research. The junior year of high school is the ideal time to start. In the senior year, so much is happening, both at the high school level, and also with meeting both financial aid and college admissions deadlines, that anything you can get a head start on should be considered.
Your first consideration when choosing a college should be your college major. If you are entering college without a preference, this will not be an issue. However, if you already have a career in mind that you want to pursue and need specialized training, this should be the first item on your list.
From there, make a list of criteria you want to explore. Here are a few examples of items you may want to include:
- Location
- Degrees offered
- Accreditation
- Cost
- Financial aid offered
- Size
- Faculty
- Social Life
- Class Size
This is just a partial list of criteria to get you thinking of your own personal needs and preferences. For more items you should consider, visit the website listed in the resource box.Write a list of everything that is important to you and prioritze it.
Start compiling a list of colleges you are interested in learning more about. It may be your local community college, your parents' alma mater, or some colleges where you could obtain a degree in your special area of interest. Narrow down your list of choices. Write for school catalogs, financial aid brochures and any other pertinent information they may have. Visit their websites and take a virtual tour. At this point, you may want to consider visiting some college campuses you are seriously considering if you need or want more information.
You are now ready to apply to the colleges that made the final cut. How many you apply to is a personal choice. Remember that there is a price attached to every college admissions form you send in. You may want to apply to one or two exclusive colleges you'd love to go to. You never know what kind of financial aid packets they have to offer you. On the other hand, it's always good to apply to a college where you know you will be accepted such as a local community college or state university. However, this is a totally personal choice.
At this point, the next step is to make the final decision. Read and compare the financial aid packets closely. Re-check your criteria. Discussion between the student and parents is critical at this point. However, since it is the student who will be spending the next four years at this institution, all attempts to reach a reasonable decision that everyone can live with should be made.
Gloria Daniels started this website after trying to sort through the maze of financial aid information. As a research assistant, she decided that a central site to use as a jumping off spot would be very useful. She doesn't set herself up as an expert in financial planning or in guidance counseling. Her talents lie in research and data analysis. It is from this point of view that she has built this site. Here you will find a variety of resources to fit every situation. She has also added basic information on finding and applying for student financial aid, along with articles of interest on this subject.
Her hope is that you will find this information helpful and keep returning to find new sources and inspiration for your search. Visit her site at: Finding Student Financial Aid for more information on choosing a college that meets your needs. She will be constantly updating this site and keeping the information current.
