Prestige, financial coverage, what fits your major, campus feel, whether you want to live on/off campus… 
Go to campus and see for yourself. It makes no sense to go to the most prestigious college possible if you’ll be absolutely uncomfortable for 4 years.
The ability to attend without going deeply into debt. A place where you feel you can be the very best person that you are capable of being.
Prestige (e.g., US News ranking) and alumni network.
Major/program fit
Campus size and amenities
Urban vs. suburban/small town
Cost
Job prospects, prestige, and alum network. Face it, these are the main reasons any of you go to college.
I find that beyond anything else what I want more than anything else from a college is a place I’ll be happy to live for the next four years. Somewhere with likeminded (and different, a mix is good) people and lots of activities I like. Well that’s two things… I guess the feeling. If it feels like it could be home when you visit.
Test score is not everything but these list show something…http://www.statista.com/statistics/285145/top-25-colleges-with-the-highest-sat-scores-in-the-united-states/
Can’t money be repaid? Even if it means debt, shouldn’t I choose the school with better opportunities and academics? Or am I just very naive and inexperienced with the world…? My parents are encouraging me to not let money be the number one influence when I choose a school even though we’re very, very low-income.
I agree with Aralis that money is not really influencing my thinking that much. I’m also very low-income so I’m probably going to go into debt for a while anyways. Why not just make it a great school while I’m at it?
My most important factors are having the programs I’m interested in, and location close to home (I’m an older student).
Good Placements
Proper Professors
Reputation
Infrastructure
Atmosphere
Culture… These are some of my mind crossed notable things while filtering for a college to select.
If you want to earn a degree that’s going to have value in the job market, it’s important to make sure that the college or university you attend is accredited.
Well, that very much depends on how much money you borrow, the interest rates, and how easy it is for you to gain employment after graduation. Before you borrow money, make sure you know how you’re going to pay it back. Otherwise, once those four years are over (and they go fast), you could find your options extremely limited. Life is expensive, and nobody is going to pick up the tab for you.
Some debt (up to the Stafford maximums) is reasonable; beyond that, caveat emptor!
They have the Major you want.
Hello,Thanks for sharing this.There are many ways to choose a college. You could choose one based on where you want to live, where your parents went to school, or even where your friends plan to attend. When selecting a school, it’s important to consider various metrics in order to find the college that best suits you and your unique needs.some ideas to get you started in the areas of academic life, student life, and financial factors.
Admission Rate:
Depending on how you performed in high school and on the SAT, you may want to apply to schools with higher or lower admission rates. If you aced everything in your academic history, you have a better chance for acceptance at the schools with lower admission rates. On the other hand, if your academic history is less than perfect, make sure you apply to some schools that have a higher admission rate, just in case.
The most important factor is not the prestige or cost. It’s whether the college will further your long term future goals while being able to have a good short term experience as well. Of course being able to pay is ideal but it’s ultimately up to you to see if the cost is worth the benefit. Prestige doesn’t matter as much as your personal success in classes, field experience, jobs, and the connections you make with people that will last a lifetime. Pick what works best for you and avoid comparing with or being pressured by others.
You should also take into consideration your chances of getting into the school. It’s okay to apply to a prestigious school that you think is perfect, but keep in mind that it is hard to get in (even if you’re an amazing student/person) so look for schools that you like but that you have a very good chance of getting into. Oh, and money is a sort of important factor as well… Sadly.
I think fit is a lot of it, if you feel comfortable on campus. Because you cant succeed if you feel uneasy all the time.
There’s no cut and dry answer (as with many things in life). If I had to pick one thing - pick somewhere where you feel empowered. This can mean different things for different people - culture fit, having certain clubs / organizations, certain types of professors or research, etc. Ultimately college is about figuring out who you are and what you want to do with your life. As long as you find that, everything else (major, studies, etc) is negotiable.
- Academic strength of Major. Duke is more prestigious than NC State but NC State is the better school for engineers.
- Did they accept me? Personally, I'm not really interested in schools that most likely won't accept me like Yale, Harvard, UPenn, or Brown. I don't settle for something that is really easy to get into, but I'm not Ivy League and I know I never will be.
- Prestige. Let's say I was going to hire someone. This guy got his degree from Western Carolina. Not many people have heard of Western Carolina. This guy got his degree from DeVry. I would hire the one from Western. I won't say that it's the most important thing, but prestige still matters.
- Location. I want to go out of state so I'll probably pick an out of state college. My top picks right now are UT Knoxville, CU Boulder, and West Virginia University. Not just because they are out of state, but because they are in the mountains. I love the mountains and I love camping.
- Size. I honestly love big schools better. The massive football games and all the people I could ever meet is a great one up for me. I prefer 20,000 - 50,000 students. I go to a small high school of 450 students and nobody has school spirit. I can't stand my high school (mostly because of the lack of AP classes and our councilors are determined to not care about us). I really would like the change of going from a small school with no spirit to a huge school that has a lot of spirit.
- Reputation. Despite being interested in WVU I'm not big on party schools. I like the occasional party here and there and social life is an important part of choosing a college. I don't want to go to a school were people drink themselves till they blackout everyday. (PS I'm not bashing WVU but you guys do have a reputation whether it's true or not)
- Price. I would prefer to go to a cheaper school if I can. Penn State is a great school but Penn State is expensive.