<p>Factors that influenced my college choices:</p>
<ol>
<li>Location: midwest, south, or northeast</li>
<li>Location: small city, town, or suburb (I couldn’t handle a big city school like Barnard)</li>
<li>Size: less than 3,000 students</li>
<li>Focus: liberal arts and sciences </li>
<li>Academics: undergraduate research opportunities</li>
<li>Academics: strong psychology department</li>
<li>Services: learning disability support and personal counseling</li>
<li>Financial Aid: reputation for low asking price (like Hendrix) or decent financial aid (like Agnes Scott)</li>
<li>Politics: left-leaning student body</li>
<li>Housing: single-sex dorms that aren’t overcrowded (I need my privacy)</li>
<li>Profs: reputation for lots of student-faculty interaction</li>
</ol>
<p>Factors that did not:</p>
<ol>
<li>Religious Affiliation: Hendrix is Methodist; Guilford is Quaker; Agnes Scott and Maryville are Presbyterian. It doesn’t matter as long as the people are friendly and accepting. </li>
<li>Distance From Home: Mom made me apply to one school in Tennessee (Maryville), but otherwise I have made decisions based on the merits of the schools, not their distance from my house. </li>
<li>Availability of Major: psychology is not an offbeat major that one has to shop around for. Most, if not all, LACs have it.</li>
<li>Weather: Kalamazoo, Michigan? I’ll bring a jacket.</li>
<li>Prestige: I care more about the experience than the name on the diploma.</li>
</ol>