Hey everyone! Welcome to the next installment of College Search Tips! Attached is my video explaining what you should think about as you decide which schools to apply to, but this blog post will go a bit more in depth about my reasonings and advice.
1. Classroom Environment (Lecture vs Discussion)
The most important of my suggestions, in my personal opinion, is to look into each school’s classroom environment. This will largely be dictated by the college’s size, student-to-teacher ratio, and the popularity of interesting/desired departments. Take a look at the classes you are in now or have taken in the past, and think about what stood out to you. Did you enjoy having academic discussions with your teacher and classmates everyday, or were you relieved every time your teacher said they were going to lecture for the class period? Were you excited to share your thoughts and listen to those around you, or did you like to mull over the material privately? There are amazing schools that cater to both collaborative and individualized classroom environments, and many might fall somewhere in between, or provide both.
If you are more inclined towards lecture based classes, and value listening to your professors over your classmates, a larger school with a larger student-to-teacher ratio might be more your style. And if you want to actively participate, or engage with classmates who do, on a regular basis, consider looking into smaller schools with smaller student-to-teacher ratios. This is not an exact science, but class sizes, and the environments that each school can facilitate, will largely depend on how many people normally enroll in a class. The most popular major at any school could rely on lecture courses to allow more students to take the class each semester. As you look through college websites and listen to current students and faculty, focus on how they talk about that classroom environment. Whether it is for your desired majors/departments, ask yourself, “is this a classroom I want to be in?”
2. General Education Requirements (Narrow vs Broad)
Many colleges require students to take specific courses outside of their major requirements. These typically embody the ethos of the school, and what the founders and administrators think every student should leave their school knowing the basis of. Not all schools have these requirements, so it is important to see what your prospective schools’ academic guidelines are. If they do not have these GE requirements, what courses must students complete before they are eligible to graduate? If they do have GE requirements, are they focused in areas that you are willing to take courses in? Some GE requirements could be narrow based on the courses that the school offers, or could cover a broad range of topics. If you are looking at a science focused school, you could be a Biology major, but required to take classes in Physics and Chemistry as well. Humanities focused colleges could require students to take science, history, and art courses before a student may graduate.
What would you be interested in doing? If you know exactly what you want to do and would like to spend your time solely learning within your discipline, having to take classes outside of your department could feel like a distraction or tedious. If you like to explore academically, or not know what you want to major in, broad GEs would allow you to experience multiple departments and dedicate time out of your day to non major interests. Be sure to carefully consider what the schools you apply to offer so that you do not get stuck with GE requirements that are of no interest to you.
3. Location (City vs Nature)
I know I have talked a lot about academics but college students do have a life outside of class. When considering various colleges, take a peek through Google Maps and see what is around the college/university. Are there mountains nearby that you can hike? Is there a beach or a lake that you can spend your weekends at? Is there a concert venue in case your favorite artist comes to the city, or a shopping center to buy clothes because you did not pack for your campus’s weather? What surrounds your campus could be a deal breaker, depending on your personal interests. Take a look at your current hobbies and activities that you do with family and friends. Would you like those activities to continue in college, and how would your future campus facilitate your interests? Also look into what modes of transportation and opportunity does this college/university provide? Do they have cars you can rent or clubs that fund trips to do your favorite hobby? Most college students do not bring their cars to school, so how will you get to places off campus? Is it a short drive, or is your campus more secluded? Consider your hometown and what you like/not like about the area you currently live in. If it is more fast paced than you would like your college to be, look at more suburban or secluded campuses. If you want to branch out to a more dense community, research which schools are in or near a larger city.
One final aspect to consider about location is weather. We all have our preferences and different ideas of “perfect weather.” What climate would you like to live in potentially for the next four years? Are you someone who loves waking up to snow and colder activities like sledding or snowboarding, or is your perfect day putting on sunscreen as you head to the beach or the pool? Could you be someone who wants the opportunity to do both? What areas of the country or world will provide you with your desired climate? You will also likely only be in this location for the academic school year, so excluding summer and school breaks, what does that location look like during a typical week? Take a look at yearly temperature reports for the cities schools are located in to see if you could handle a full year with that weather. There are great schools in every part of the country and world so do not neglect the importance of climate, because it could limit or focus the scope of colleges/universities that you are looking at.
The college search and application process is definitely a difficult one so I hope that these suggestions can be of use to you. Feel free to reach out (email: [email protected]) with any questions you have about deciding which schools to apply to and how I can help you add Scripps to that list!