How To Choose A College

Gasp! Summer didn't title her post in the all-too-typical "Summer's _____" fashion!

OMG!

Yeah... I really don't care. Here's my alternative title: Summer's Advice.

Happy?

Good. Moving on to number thirteen of the list...

13. Write about common pitfalls. What are mistakes that beginners might make without knowing it?
This should be fun.




Choosing colleges is one of the most stressful and confusing activities to do. Unless you've known since you were ten that you want to study pediatrics at Stanford, chances are you're having trouble finding the right one for you. In fact, there are three mistakes that most people (including myself) fall victim too...

1. Google

Googling universities is possibly THE WORST idea ever. I have done this numerous times and all I've come up with is positive bullshit from the school and negative bullshit from the students. Every university is "the best" at SOMETHING, and the website wastes no time in telling you. Don't even think about googling universities with your major; every single one will tell you they have a stellar program for your major.

2. Visiting
Don't get me wrong, I love visiting colleges. It's so fun to walk around, see the campus, eat in the cafeteria and just enjoy the atmosphere. However, this is no way to choose a college. The thing about campuses is that they are ALL freaking beautiful. Seriously! I've only visited two campuses of colleges that I didn't have any intention of visiting, but after leaving both I was IN LOVE. They were both beautiful, had lovely atmospheres, and had excellent food. Unfortunately, that's where my admiration ended. I still don't know anything about either universities' academics. All I know is that they were freaking beautiful and I loved them! Honey? They're all beautiful. Do some research.

3. Asking

One thing I used to do was ask trusted professionals in the industry I wished to pursue where they recommended I go to study said industry. The results? They had as much of a clue as I did. See, the thing about trusted professionals is that they have the same roots as you. Ten+ years ago, they were a scared 17-year-old with no idea where they wanted to study. Chances are they just applied to universities in their area and got lucky. This results in their knowing nothing about any university other than the one they attended. Go ahead and ask what school they recommend; chances are they'll either recommend the one they attended or an ivy league school.

Sometimes it seems impossible to find the perfect university for you.

In lieu of this, I'm going to share some important advice from Regette herself:

How To Choose A College
Find the one with the coolest name that's the farthest away.
Yup. That's how choosing a college gets done, son!

Thank you, Reg, for your brilliant advice. I hope it helps our readers as much as it has helped me.

Ithaca, NY, here I come!

Less than three,

~ Summer

p.s. How did you choose your university? Let us know in the comments or on our facebook page!