What College Should I Go To? How to Find the Best Fit for Your Goals

Many people are astounded when they discover how much demand there is for college and university education. In the United States alone, colleges and universities generate about $580 billion worth of revenue every single year. More than 2.9 million people around the country work at colleges and universities to help people enjoy an education.

Of course, this also means that there are a huge number of colleges out there for students to choose from. Many students end up wondering, "What college should I go to?"

The good news is that huge numbers of people have struggled with this same question for many decades. That means that a lot of smart people have come up with strategies that can help people find the right college for them.

You can stand on the shoulders of giants and use their wisdom to help you find a college option that will work for your unique situation. So how can you find the best college for your needs?

Read on to learn all about the principles that will guide you toward the right college for your goals!

What College Should I Go To?

Asking which college is the best one to attend is a little bit like asking which course is the best one to take. The answer is that there is no single answer that applies to everyone.

Instead, the best college course for one person will be different from the best college course for another. Likewise, the right college for your unique situation will not be the same as the best college for the average student.

As you think about finding the right college for you, it is important to pay attention to the opinions and knowledge of others. However, it is also important to keep your eye on your own specific situation and not lean too much into the perceptions of others.

Prepare to Consider Many College Options

The first thing to keep in mind is the importance of considering a variety of options. Some people make the mistake of only looking at a couple of famous colleges they have already heard of.

However, if you only consider a few colleges, the odds are that the right option for you will never even make it onto your list of candidates.

As a general rule, considering more options will help you generate a better result. Of course, you have to balance this against the impossibility of analyzing every college in existence in depth.

However, you do not have to analyze all of your candidates in depth to at least consider them a little.

For example, someone might superficially look at 100 college options. Then, they might focus on analyzing only 10 of those options in depth. They might end up spending much more time analyzing their 10 options in-depth than they did superficially analyzing the other 90 options.

However, that does not mean that you can skip over considering a large number of options. After all, it is your superficial analysis of many choices that will help you figure out which few options you should give more attention to.

Focus On Your Top College Choices

Once you have looked at a large number of options, you should focus most of your attention on your top choices. It is often a good idea to ask a guidance counselor or someone else to help you whittle down your many options to a few top ones. With that done, you can start thinking about how to decide which of your remaining options will be your number one choice.

Force Rank Your College Enrollment Options

Force ranking is a process of ranking items from top to bottom without allowing for any ties.

Sometimes, a few college options will seem equally valuable to you. However, if you get into multiple colleges, you will still be forced to pick one over the others.

It is better to do this kind of force ranking in advance. That way, you will be able to devote your efforts to the college options that you prefer the most.

However, it is also helpful to apply this principle of force ranking to the features that attract you to your top college candidates.

For example, you might care a lot about location, tuition costs, and prestige. Again, a few of the factors you care about might seem equally important to you. It is still a good idea to force rank them so that you can have the clearest picture possible of your choices.

Even if you make a mistake with your force ranking, you can always go back and change it, so don't be afraid to be bold with your decisions.

Give Yourself Time When Choosing a College

The process of choosing the right college for you will take a lot of time. However, you will be more than happy you spent so much time on it as you spend several years of your life at the college you end up choosing.

The process of applying to your top college choices is also lengthy. For both of these reasons, you should get started as soon as possible choosing between your college options. If you wait too long, you may be forced to rush through some parts of this selection process.

Visit Your Top Options Multiple Times

Many students end up visiting several of the colleges they most want to attend. However, some people make the mistake of never attending the same college more than once.

Unless you are positive about which college you want to go to and you are positive that you will get in, you should keep going back to some of your top options to consider them in more depth.

This is also a great opportunity to develop some relationships with the people at some of your top college candidates. When they see you come back again and again, there is a good chance they will be more inclined to help you. Sometimes, that help can be all you need to make a difficult decision about which college you want to attend.

Account For Total Educational Expenses

Some students make the mistake of focusing too much on tuition costs. In most cases, it makes more sense to emphasize total costs. You don't want to pick a college because it has cheaper tuition, only to realize that you will actually spend more money if you attend it.

Take the time to estimate how much it will cost you in total to attend all of your top college choices.

That includes housing and transportation costs. You should also look at the cost of living in the cities of your top choices, including the cost of food. On the other hand, you might want to look at the cost of meal plans at your top college options.

Once you know how much attending each college will cost you, you will be in a better position to decide which option is right for you.

Learn More About Specific Departments

Some students also focus too much on the overall prestige of a college or university. However, it might be the prestige of a specific department that matters more for your unique situation.

For example, if you want to receive a chemistry degree, it might be more important to find a college with an amazing chemistry department than to find one with an amazing reputation overall.

Choose a School With the Right Connections

Most colleges help their graduates find work. However, not all colleges have the same connections and tools for helping their graduates start their careers.

Take the time to learn about how each of your top college choices might be able to help you succeed in your future career. In some ways, this factor matters more than almost any other. After all, most people go to college in order to pursue a career.

Discuss Your Options Many Times

Open a continuing dialogue with your family or anyone else who might influence your decision about which college to attend. Avoid making any strong decisions in the beginning. Instead, discuss your thought process several times and ask for everyone's advice.

This will help you clarify your own thinking as well as help them understand what matters most to you.

Know How to Find the Right College for You

Many people wonder, "What college should I go to?", without having much hope of finding a definitive answer. However, we hope that the principles in this article will help you make the right decision for your situation. Understanding more about what has worked for others will help you maximize the chance that you find a college you will be satisfied with.

To learn more about how you can increase your chances of getting into the college of your choice, check out our other articles!