How to Decide Between Two Colleges

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Laura Turner, and today, I'm going to talk to you about how to decide between two colleges. One of the main ways that I decided on the college that I went to was based on going to the campus itself, and actually doing a little summer thing before I went to college there. So not only did I visit the campus, I also communicated with some of the professors there. I had, sort of, classes that were taught by people who were in the college there. They weren't necessarily professors, but they were visiting faculty. But I also got to see the campus itself and how pretty it was. I have some pictures here of it. So maybe aesthetically pleasing campuses are important to you. Are you going to want to spend lots of time on campus and, you know, sort of admiring the scenery? Is that important to you? If it is, make sure that you go to campus -- both campuses -- and decide which one is, you know, more beautiful to you where you could see yourself living and being happy. Next, does anyone that you know go to either of these colleges? Is that important to you? Is it important for you to have somebody there who can sort of help you get into school there, or is it okay if you just sort of jump out on your own and go to college there? Also think about how big do you want...how big of a school do you want to go to? Is it going to be, you know, 4,000 people? Is it going to be 40,000 people? Stuff like that. Next, what is more important to you: your social life or your academic life in college? Ideally, they should both be equally as important to you in college. But think about that, and then look at things like the Princeton Review could help you in deciding sort of the ratings for these schools. You know, do you want to go to a big party school? Do you want to go to a school that's more focused on academics? And also, think about the home factor. How far away are these colleges from your home? How far away do you want to move? What are the pros and cons of going far, you know, to New York or staying close to your home? And finally, scholarships. If it's almost free for you for one college, but the other college, you know, is a better school and it's going to cost you a lot of money, think about the pros of going to a school, you know, essentially for free. Really, you can't beat that kind of a deal, okay?"