Five Questions to
Ask When Choosing a College
By Tim McNellie
Right about now,
hundreds of South Fayette High School students are in the
process of making a decision that will shape not only their next
four years, but the rest of their lives. They’re going through
the annual rite of passage that is deciding where to go to
college.
Choosing a school
has always been a major decision, and with tuition costs
skyrocketing, some experts suggest that picking the right
college for oneself may be more important than ever.
“College is so
expensive that it’s not really a place to go find yourself
anymore,” says Bridget Hotrum, of College Bound Admissions
Academy, a Peters-based company that prepares and guides
students and parents through the admissions and financial aid
processes. “College is costly, and even more costly if you
make mistakes and don’t find the right fit.”
“It’s not
something that you can sit down and decide in one day. It’s a
decision that should evolve over time, a process during which
students should ask themselves a lot of hard questions about
what’s really important to them, and not just focus on
superficial things like the weather.”
There are many
variables to consider when looking at schools – a student’s
planned major, social interests, cultural and religious
preferences, and so on. Below are a few things to consider while
weighing the merits of various schools.
 1
What Do You Want to Study?
College students
change their majors quite often these days, but when looking at
schools, it definitely helps to narrow your interests down to at
least a general area of interest, Hotrum says. By the end of
your high school career, you should have an idea whether you’re
interested in math and science, or if you’re more of a liberal
arts person.
If science is your
thing, look for schools with up-to-date labs and technology. If
you’re interested in the arts, check out the quality of those
programs. For many fields of study, you don’t have to declare
a major right away. If you’re considering something like
pharmacy or physical therapy, however, where the schooling
consists of a very strict, well-defined five or six year
curriculum, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by starting
during your first semester.
Some people aren’t
sure what they want to do, though. These students might benefit
from the aptitude and interest assessments that college planners
like Hotrum use to help kids identify what they might like to do
with their lives.
2
Where is the School and How Big is it?
Almost as important
as what you study is where you study. As great a school as it
is, the University of Pennsylvania might not be a good fit for
someone who just isn’t comfortable living in a very urban
environment (forget the 33 armed robberies in a single month
that UPenn saw a decade ago; this summer the school reportedly
had a problem with roving gangs of young children, ranging from
9 - 13, attacking school students and staff). Similarly, someone
accustomed to the excitement of big city life might not know
what to do with themselves at a small rural school like West
Virginia’s Bethany College, where the library closes at 4 p.m.
on Fridays and Saturdays.
Size matters, too.
Do you want a school where you’re one face in a sea of 40,000,
or would you prefer a smaller campus where you might end up
knowing everybody? Visit schools of different sizes to get a
feeling for the type of campus where you would be most
comfortable.
3
What Will Daily Life Be Like?
Though some parents
may complain that their kids should focus on academics, not
social life, when selecting a college, you’re choosing a home
for the next four years, so daily life is a consideration.
One of the
assessments that Hotrum puts her clients through gauges a
student’s academic and social priorities. If a lively social
life is important to a student, he or she may not be happy at a
school where 90 percent of the kids are spending their free time
in the library.
Similarly, someone
who goes to college 500 miles from South Fayette probably won’t
enjoy a commuter school where the other students drive home on
the weekends.
So find out what a
school has to offer you socially. If religion is an important
part of your life, check out the related clubs and programs at
the school, as well as the nearby places of worship. If you like
sports, find out what kinds of extra-curricular activities they
have. The same with Greek life.
Make the most of
your campus tour (see sidebar)
and find out what the accommodations are like, from the
cafeteria and rec room to the dorm rooms and bathrooms in
student housing.
4
What Will the
Classroom Be Like?
One of the most
important factors in determining your success as a student could
be the amount of faculty-student interaction you’ll get at a
school. Some students do well with minimal interaction, while
many perform best with hands-on help from their professors.
Find out what kind
of access students in your program typically have to faculty
members. Are classes held in a large lecture hall or in a more
intimate environment? Will your classes consist of you listening
to a professor lecture, or is it more of a give-and-take
discussion between students and staff? Ask around and find out
if the students in classes tend to work collaboratively or if
it's more of a competitive environment.
If you’re
planning to go to grad school, you’ll want to be able to
develop a relationship with the faculty members in your program.
But don’t
automatically write off bigger schools because of the sheer
number of students. In some programs at Pitt, for example, the
student-teacher ratios aren’t unlike those at smaller
colleges. Visit the department you’re interested in and start
asking questions.
5
How Much Will It
Cost?
Though this might
not seem like a major issue to teenagers dreaming of college, it
certainly is to parents. And it will be to those same students
in a few years when they start paying back loans. For many
families, paying for college is no easy task, especially with
tuitions increasing at such an absurd rate.
Between 2001 and
2007, the cost of tuition at Carnegie Mellon University has
increased by 43 percent, from $25,670 to $36,950. Inflation
during that same period has been around 16 percent. And CMU is
hardly alone in that same time, tuition at Pitt rose from $6,900
to $12,100.
But colleges can
pretty much charge whatever they like. In today’s world, a
bachelor’s degree is a must-have for even entry level work in
many fields. That leaves parents and students to figure out how
to pay for it.
The good news is
that financial aid is available at most schools, and can do much
to alleviate the burden of tuition. So don’t immediately
write-off a school simply because it’s expensive. Instead,
find out what category of financial aid you’re in, so that
when financial aid packages are offered, you’ll know where you
fit in.
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