<p>Right now I'm choosing between ND & WUSTL.
South Bend vs. St. Louis is a OBVIOUS difference.
and with both of them being equally good schools, location seems to be tipping the scale towards WUSTL
Do you all agree that location should play such a large role?</p>
<p>You'll be there for four years so yes, location matters -- alot.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, my friend is a journalism major at the University of Colorado and she did a school project in which she interviewed students about: What was the most important thing they considered when choosing a college and what was the most important thing they should have considered when choosing a college? About 60% of students said location was the most important factor when they chose a college, but 80% of those students retrospectively said it should not have been the most important factor. They rated the quality of the program as the most important factor. </p>
<p>My advice: Choose a school with a decent location (you have to live there for four years), but make sure the school has 1) the majors you are interested in, 2) a program that will challenge you academically and 3) the kind of environment you will "fit" into.</p>
<p>"About 60% of students said location was the most important factor when they chose a college, but 80% of those students retrospectively said it should not have been the most important factor."</p>
<p>Since those students enjoyed the benefits of their chosen location, they don't know if they could've been happy in a vastly different location i.e. those who wanted an urban location didn't spend four years in a cornfield so it's meaningless to say four years in a cornfield would have been fine with them after all because they really don't know.</p>