<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]Sodexho[/url”>Sodexo - Wikipedia]Sodexho[/url</a>] or [url=<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramark]Aramark[/url”>Aramark - Wikipedia]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>