I’ve been looking at colleges for a while now, and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to tell what is important to me in a college and what I’m willing to put up with. The websites don’t seem to tell me much about them, and when they do, it’s too salesman-y/vague for me to take seriously. Calling admissions with questions results in the same problem from my experience. I don’t know, maybe I’m just a bad researcher?
I’ve looked at USC, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Chapman, and others, but I couldn’t really tell you which ones I like better. I don’t find myself getting excited about going to any of them. I’m applying mostly because I have a decent shot at getting in, and they have the major I need. Not much else.
Chapman is relatively small, and USC is much bigger. Pepperdine has a gorgeous campus, but so does Loyola, apparently. I can’t tell if I would rather have one experience vs another because I have a hard time imagining what it would be like there, and if I would enjoy it. I also don’t have the ability to visit any of the colleges I’m interested in, so that doesn’t help. Am I an easy-going guy, or am I just a dispassionate idiot?
How do you decide on a college? How do you know what you like?