I’m a junior in high school and we have to start coming up with a plan for our senior year of high school. My only issue is, how in the world do I choose a college?! I’ve been researching them and I’m having an extremely difficult time.
While I love academics, I really want to go to college for a social life as bad as that sounds. I’m also really wanting to come out of college engaged or married. I hate saying this because it sounds SO superficial.
This is what I’m looking for in a university/college:
Higher male to female ratio
It’s extremely easy to make friends and everyone is best friends with everyone. You can walk up to somebody and find a common interest and be able to hang out with them the next time you see them. Basically, non-cliqueish.
Preferably a nursing program
One that has a southern or western aspect to it. People that are into hunting, fishing, rodeos?? Thick accents? I’d perfer a western lifestyle.
One where a good percentage of students are interested in pursuing relationships
A college near a town that has a lot of nature. (lakes, hiking trails, fields)
Somewhere where the students aren’t going to be super materialistic
Students who are more on the conservative/moderate side
I would recommend somewhere like University of Alabama, University of Oklahoma, South Carolina University, Texas A&M. What are your stats/budget? Do you want a big or small school?
I.suggest you get your hands on some good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review) which can often be found in a guidance office and/or library.and start reading up on different colleges.
The first thing that you need to do, is talk with your parents about how they expect you to pay for your education. What kind of budget limit do you have?
If you belong to a particular religious denomination, there may be good options for you in a southern/western state at a denominational college. Especially if people tend to marry within your denomination and fairly young. For example, BYU would be at the top of your list if you were LDS.
You’ve got some mutually exclusive criteria there – you’re certainly not going to find an overwhelmingly male population in a nursing program and many nursing programs will be in larger universities, but it sounds like you might like a smaller school. (Also, women outnumber men at many schools.) You might want to consider some of the Christian colleges or instate or OOS publics. You also want to figure out if you want direct admission to a nursing program, or if you want a more general liberal arts education with a pre-nursing focus.
Given your preferences, you probably want to stick to the south, the west, or the southwest. In addition to your home state of GA, I’d look at schools in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, etc. You might want to focus on Christian colleges, which might have a more conservative bent and students that share your interests and values. You might want to start by doing a search on “best nursing programs in the south” or “best nursing programs in Texas.”
Schools that might have some what you’re looking for include southern instate publics in the aforementioned states and schools like Baylor, Clemson, Texas A&M, and George Mason. Sewanee University of the South has a pre-nursing program, as well as a direct entry into Vanderbilt’s school of Nursing.
Without knowing your state of residence, your stats and your budget, however, it’s impossible to make any meaningful suggestions.
University of Utah would be almost exactly what you’re looking for (it’s a public U but out of state tuition is pretty reasonable). It’s just outside of Salt Lake City, at the base of the incredible Wasatch Mountains. Good nursing program. Outdoors life can’t be beat.
