Students from a young age anxiously await the day for them to receive their acceptance letters from their dream colleges. Once the hard work and time spent on their studies pays off and students get accepted to multiple schools, they have a very difficult decision to make- where will they spend the next years of their lives?

There are many elements to consider when choosing one’s “perfect match” of a school. A few aspects of college that one must consider are the professors, their desired major, job connections and internships that each school provides, and what size classes does each school have.

When it comes to teachers, there is a major difference between high school and college. In high school, the student to teacher relationship is, you get who you get. In the public school system especially, students do not attend their school for the sole purpose of receiving a certain teacher or having any say in the staff on their campus. Contradictory to this, in college, students can decide to go or not to go to a school based on their professors. To review and inspect the professors on each campus, students can use websites and rankings to see what professor would best fit to their characteristics. 

Before deciding, students must research all majors at the different schools being considered. The college must not only have the major that the students is entering as, but it is also a necessity for the school to have majors that are intriguing for students if they decide to switch their major while in school.

During the process of making the big college decision, students must think farther into the future than just four years. In the long run, students attend college to better their chances of receiving their desired jobs for their future careers. Researching job fairs, internships, and the ratio of students to a counselor is vital in the decision making process. If a college provides all of these things, their students will be more than prepared for the workforce at the end of their time in school.

Taking notice to the preferred amount of involvement each student favors will indicate the sought out size of college for each different student. Graduates that enjoy actively being involved in class and having a relationship with their teachers should select a college with a smaller student body. Therefore, they will have smaller class sizes and more opportunities to engage with their teachers. If being involved in the class does not have as much importance or is not a necessity for a particular student, a larger school would be the best fit.

Along with the educational aspects of college, the environmental desires and preferences of students must be considered as well. Those deciding must determine what environment they want to spend the next years of their lives in. Do they prefer cities or suburbs, coasts or plains?

Other aspects of environment which must be contemplated is the dorm life of each college. Some students hope to one day be a part of greek life while others aspire to live with a few friends outside of campus. It is important to research what the living conditions of each college are. Where one lives may make or break the decision of where to choose.

After taking into account all the aspects of college that may be favored or not, the choice of where one decides to go to college, will become more clear.