<p>Question: Campus life is often the deciding factor for why a students chooses a particular college. I'd like to know what was the most important factor in anyone's choice and how they discovered that the college offered it. </p>
<p>Steven W. Lawry, president of Antioch College, points out that campus culture and campus climate can be very difficult terms to define or phenomena to describe they are characterized largely by a complex set of values and value judgments, they are also terms that dont easily invite agreement on what a good or less good campus climate or campus culture might be.</p>
<p>The deciding factor for me was that my school was in New York City.
I was deciding between my school and another school in Providence, RI, but the location tipped the scale in the end.
I visited Providence, and the school was as equally academically intriguiging as my school, but Providence is no NYC.
But of course it all depends if you prefer the urban atmosphere because New York isn't for everyone.
I also liked that one of the freshmen dorms (houses 50% of the freshmen) is all singles (and a few walk-through doubles).
I love the privacy, and people always hang out in the hallway so you can talk to them whenever you're lonely.
It's great how we have so much independence on campus, but still maintains a sense of community.
Now I'm at my school, and I absolutely love it!</p>
<p>My deciding factor was a school with a big Hospitality program in a location where I would be happy for 4 years. Thats how I ended up with the University of Central Florida.</p>
<p>I was all set to go to UT-Austin or out of state to JHU. A very good friend of mine told me about a smaller school closer to home that had a very high rate (90%) of pre-med students actually getting into med school. I checked it out, liked the people and the culture, and applied.</p>
<p>My deciding factor, however, turned out to be something completely different: money. Most financial aid advisors will tell you that you can go ANYWHERE you want and money doesn't matter, but don't be fooled - it does. Higher education is expensive, no matter which way you go about it, and most people won't luck out with or power their way into a full ride. </p>
<p>UT gave me squat; JHU, as much as I wanted to go, cost me roughly the price of a new car every <em>semester</em> - even with their largest scholarship (without a full ride) and loans. The small school closer to home gave me the largest scholarship and actually cost the least. The bulk of what I pay goes directly to my tuition. That's how I ended up at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.</p>
<p>I loved that my school (Fordham at Lincoln Center) was in what I consider one of the best parts of Manhattan, that I had an apartment but still a dorm, that I was among an intellectual community, and that it was semi-close to home.</p>
<p>But the thing that did it for me was:
a) I fell in love.
b) I was deciding between this school and another one i loved in CA. I asked myself, which one would i get tired of fastest? the answer was not fordham. that was that.</p>
<p>I fell in love with UCLA the first day I was on-campus. I could never shake the idea that it was the place for me out of my silly head. Nor could any other school, for that matter.</p>
<p>Interesting story. Yes, the experts tell you to disregard money initially. And then often there is advice to limit your applications to, say, 8-12 schools. That always seems like self-serving advice on the part of administrators. </p>
<p>Just like you said, you have to be realistic and don't want to be left holding the bag.</p>
<p>Pretty much all my life, I've been set on going to Pepperdine. At first just because I know others who went here (my mom, aunt, multiple people from my church) and it's a Church of Christ school, but I really like the fact that it's a smaller school so you're not lost in the crowd, and they also have a good journalism program. And of course, the location's a definite plus. The only problem standing in my way if I was accepted was tuition, as my parents had already told me I better get scholarships or they couldn't afford it. Luckily I received a great scholarship, which sealed the deal.</p>