<p>What does it mean if a college feels right?</p>
<p>I've visited a lot of colleges and tried to make decisions based more on facts than on emotion. But for reasons I can't always quite put my finger on, I like some schools more than others, and I felt like some were just the right place for me. I suspect a lot of people have similar experiences.</p>
<p>It's easy to discount a baseless emotion in favor of looking at retention rates or something, but I think the schools that "felt right" seemed right because I sat through their information sessions and heard fact after fact that appealed to me, and those facts came together to form a coherent positive impression.</p>
<p>So how much weight do you give your general impressions when choosing colleges? I liked College A a lot better than College B, but on paper, I don't see a ton of reasons why College A should be much better. How much does it matter to you if you feel like you belong at a college or really like it for reasons you can't put your finger on?</p>
<p>This is why people are encouraged to visit the schools they are applying to....what looks good on paper, may not be a good fit in reality. I think it matters a great deal how you feel when you visit a school. There may be an atmosphere that you are attracted to, it may be the staff, the feeling you get about the student body, the surrounding location, anything that just speaks to you and feels right. I say listen to that little voice telling you when a school feels right.</p>
<p>For me, a college that felt right was a place where I felt comfortable in the short time I had to visit and could imagine myself succeeding for the next 4yrs. For example, I went to Bard and Vassar; I thought Bard was interesting but I had some trepidation about how "different" it is. While I was there and afterwords, my mom, who really liked it, kept talking it up. I sat with it for a while, applied, and during the admissions wait after several months of reflection decided it was not for me. Vassar, otoh, I visited the same day and HATED. I didn't like the admissions staff at all, did not really like the students I met, didn't like the campus, hated its location. A school that looked so good on paper really failed to do anything for me.</p>
<p>When I visited Haverford and Bryn Mawr, I fell in love with both and ended up at the latter. The schools' ethos really worked for me and I found small but engaging details (ergos Ford's 'Blackboard' which is used for public debate), kids I liked a lot, etc. I came back to spend the night at both, something I would highly recommend doing at schools you really like, if possible.</p>
<p>You might not, upon visiting, find a school that is totally perfect. You might like a school but be unsure of what 'perfect is'. All this is fine. Apply to a range of schools you like and would be to attend and you will be fine.</p>