<p>Following the advice of many cc'ers, i am trying to create a pro/con list of all the colleges that i am considering. The only problem is ... what categories should i include?? I know that some important factors are financial situation, location, etc. Can someone advise me on other aspects to consider?</p>
<p>Money will probably be the first thing. I'll stick to stuff that may be less obvious, but will still change your overall level of happiness.</p>
<p>Overall appearance/feel of campus, if you have visited. A school that I thought would be my top pick ended up being severely disappointing/depressing when I visited. The engineering building in particular was built like a prison, and I don't know if I would be happy there. This is not a concern for some people, but I do consider it, especially when the long winter depression has set in.</p>
<p>Food! Feeling like you're eating trash every day for three months at a time is more detrimental than you would think. Schools that have dining halls run by large companies like [url=<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexho%5DSodexho%5B/url">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodexho]Sodexho[/url</a>] or [url=<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramark%5DAramark%5B/url">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramark]Aramark[/url</a>] usually get lower ratings from students food-wise.</p>
<p>The weather, which ties into location. If you hate the cold or the heat, make sure you're not going somewhere that has an extreme climate.</p>
<p>Professor:student ratio. Class sizes in the hundreds is intimidating, especially as a freshman. A "big school feel" with "small school classrooms" is probably the optimal feel. Overall school size is also a factor, but it depends on your major.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Not a senior myself, but think about 1) core curriculum, 2) surrounding area (which is sorta like location, but a lot of people when they think of, say, NYU, they think only New York City and not like ... opportunities to drive down to Connecticut or something), if you want to study abroad, then financial aid opportunities for that, etc. I think you should create a list of what you want to do in college (sports, clubs, travel) and see what the school offers.</p>