<p>I'm a to-be-senior and I don't really know what I want in a college. All I know for now is that I want a need blind school (preferably), with great financial aid, and preferably no-loan financial aid. My family's income is somewhere between 70-90,000, though, I think it's more in the 70,000-80,000 range. We have no major assests to speak of though. However, I think our home equity might be a bit high.</p>
<p>So, even if I factor it down to need-blind, 100%-met financial aid, and no-loan financial policies, I have schools with great diversity, from claremont mckenna college to Brown University. So, what other factors can I take into account? I've talked to my parents, and they essentially said I could only visit out of state colleges if they A) accepted me, or B) Offered money/scholarships, so that won't be for a while sadly.</p>
<p>SAT Scores? the others all make sense, but I don’t see how that one’s relevent. I got a 2320, so I believe I’m solid on that.</p>
<p>And then for major…err, I don’t really know what I want to major in to be honest. I’m interested in business…medicine…and to a lesser extent law. I’ve seen the basic biology, biochem, english, etc majors, but then I’ve also seen alot of really interesting concentrations within majors (like harvard has a stem cell biology major).</p>
<p>For the financial stuff, look at colleges that claim to meet demonstrated need and/or are known for generosity with merit money. </p>
<p>A few questions to ask yourself to narrow it down a bit:</p>
<p>*What size college? Some like the intimacy of a small school, others like the variety and busy-ness of a large school.
*Urban/suburban/small-town setting?
*Location? Do you hate snow? Do you hate hot weather? Do you want to be able to go home on the occasional weekend?
*What are the off-campus amenities for entertainment/shopping? How important is this to you?
*Is diversity of the student body important?
*Do you want to play an intramual sport? Do you see yourself sitting in the student section at a hard-played varsity football game?
*What kinds of non-academic student activities are you interested in – clubs, student govt, performing arts opportunities?
*Are you interested in Greek life?
*Are you interested in study-abroad opportunities?</p>
<p>how much do you like the school? do you like the people? the professors? the campus? the food? the dorms? are you going to be happy if you live there? do you like competition? do you like snow? do you like over achievers? do you like intellectuals? do you like people who party or people who read books? etc. </p>
<p>the list goes on and on, but what you should factor into your search are everything YOU want in a dream college. (also, as hard as it sounds, i don’t think you should let prestige be a factor for you. go where you can achieve the best education and college experience. Prestige will never outweigh those two.)</p>
<p>How do my grades/rank compare to accepted students? If your grades stink in comparison to accepted students it will be a long up-hill battle to make it in (especially for need blind schools).</p>
<p>I had never even heard of In-N-Out until I came to these boards. For me, I asked these questions, with my preferred answer in parentheses.</p>
<p>Is it near a large city? (yes)
Is the public transportation good or excellent? (yes)
Is it academically challenging? (yes)
Is it academically competitive? (no)
Does it have an active Greek life? (no)
Does it have good sports teams? (no)
Is it between two and eight hours from home? (yes)
Will I get good merit aid? (yes)
Will I get good need-based aid? (yes)
Is the dining plan meal-based? (no)
Are the rooms air-conditioned? (yes - I have asthma, but this is definitely not a MAKE OR BREAK point)
Are there four seasons of weather? (yes)
Does it offer a selection of majors I may like? (yes)
Is it very, very prominent in a field other than those in which my potential majors lie? (no)
Does it have a good study abroad program? (yes)</p>
<p>Since all of the schools I’m looking at are selective, have competitive admissions, and are generally commended for their academic atmosphere (professors, etc.), that qualification wasn’t really necessary. Of that list (and the many more I couldn’t think of off the top of my head), very few of those points are make or break. I think the make or break points would be a) near a city, b) academically challenging, and c) good financial aid packages.</p>
<p>For me, location is a really big deal. You are going to have to spend 4 years there and there is a good chance that you will work in the town you go to school in, at least at first. So, choose your location wisely.</p>
<p>For me, after I got in and visited places, the thing that occupied my thoughts most was prestige. I’m not going to lie about that. However, it was an awful experience and I would not recommend it – I found myself questioning my best fit school because of the possible more prestigious nature of another one.</p>