<p>I am trying to determine a definitive list of factors that will influence my college choice. Some examples include tuition, campus appearance, atmosphere, and the strength of math/CS departments, but there are also some more trivial things like campus appearance and food quality.</p>
<p>What factors did you consider in your college search?</p>
<p>Consider net price after financial aid and scholarships, rather than just tuition.</p>
<p>You seem to have a good hold on the factors, but how you weight each in your decision will be the harder part, and the more fluid in terms of change. For that, I think it is good to ask a few questions to yourself about what type of person you are, and what you need.</p>
<p>Basic Factors you didn’t list: Intellectual Level of student body, school size, male/female ratio (applies a lot more in math/CS school choices sadly), academic philosophy (structured versus freedom versus practical versus research versus theory)</p>
<p>Every student is different, don’t just find the factors, start to weigh them against each other. For me, academic philosophy was a big one, and I know for many others it isn’t. Point is, know your preferences well and college selection will be easy. The people that often have trouble deciding are those that leave the heavy thinking to the last minute. Start early and the choice will be a lot easier, hopefully at worst between two in a preference versus financial which is a common and understandable predicament.</p>
<p>@PengsPhils: Do you have any tips on discovering a college’s academic philosophy?</p>
<p>Critical reading of the brochures they send. Fiske Guide/Insider’s Guide to the Colleges/Princeton Review’s Best Colleges. The forums on these boads, especially the college-specific forums, the “college w vs. College Z” threads that are frequent in March and April, the searches with the name of the college.</p>
<p>Some things can only be measured by actually visiting and “feeling the vibe”. Everyone who has been through the process can tell you about at least one school that looked perfect on paper and upon a visit to campus felt instantly wrong. Maybe it was the tour guide, maybe it was the difficulty finding a parking place, or maybe the school was better at marketing itself than it actually is, but you cross it off the list. It rarely goes the other way, unless you’re desperately looking for an affordable safety, as you tend to not visit those schools that on paper appear unacceptable.</p>
<p>The basic rule is, research to make a rough list, and only things that are rather broad. The financial picture won’t change with a visit, nor will campus size and what majors they offer. But things like campus beauty can really only be judged in person. Photoshop lies.</p>
<p>Usually it is pretty clear by what their emails and literature lead with. Some don’t have a strong philosophy one way or the other either. That cheesy canned statement you find on the about pages and the academic pages can actually give insight in many cases. As you dive in deeper, it should become very clear.</p>
<p>I also second the visiting and feeling the vibe, it is that important and pictures are not the same.</p>
<p>You might also want to consider class size and core curriculum requirements.</p>
<p>We went back and forth on core requirements. Although I personally liked the idea of a core, I hated to see what some schools did with it - some had the requirements then allowed everyone to dodge it with weak courses in math or science. (“I fulfilled my math core requirement by taking economics where we drew graphs!”, was one supposed “benefit” of one highly ranked school. Uh, no. Either you have the core requirements or you don’t.) </p>
<p>On the other hand, not having the core allows for a lot more flexibility and makes double majoring in two non-related subjects vastly easier. And since D wanted to also do the pre-med track, she ultimately wound up selecting a no-core LAC, though she had both types on her final top 5 list. She would have adapted to anything, although a place with a solid core like Columbia would not have appealed to her (if she were an Ivy candidate). Her brother might be more interested when his turn comes.</p>
<p>One thing that many students overlook is the foreign language requirement. Some schools have none, other schools for the same degree can require as many as 4 semesters. If you hate foreign languages, that can play a big role in a decision.</p>
<p>AP credits is another thing to look at. Most of the elite schools do not grant AP credit, they just let you take a higher level class to start, but if you’re looking to save money by actually getting AP credit and graduating a little sooner, make sure you understand the AP policy.</p>