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Before you start applying to
colleges you should first find out what it is that you need from the
school that you attend. There are actually sites on the internet that can
help you to find the schools that have what it is you are looking for.
Sites like The Princeton Review College Loan
How to choose the right
college
There are a few different things that you need to take into consideration when you are choosing schools and the first one is what kind of school you want to go to. Do you need to go to a two-year school or a four-year school? To year schools like community colleges are great for many people, especially those who did not do so great in high school. They give student a chance to get over the high school slump and the teacher shave more time to work one on one with the students because the classes are generally smaller. They are also usually cheaper. Schools that have the bigger and better labs and libraries are usually the ones where there are dorms for the students to live.
Look at the academic strength of the schools you are thinking of attending. What kind of SAT scores are the new students coming in with? This can show how challenging the school might be and this is helpful because some schools may be too hard for your child while others may not be hard enough.
The size of a school is also a very important aspect to look into. If a school is very large this means that you child may not be ale to get the personal help that he or she may require. What kinds of help programs does the school have for those who may be struggling with their studies.
Of course the price of the schools you are thinking of applying at is also a very important thing to look into. The problem is that the costs of the school are not generally put in their brochures and tracking these costs down can be difficult. There are great web sites like The College Board that will help you to find schools in your price range. This site in particular will even help you to find schools that offer you the financial aid that you may need.
Here are a few more things to consider when trying to choose the right college:
Think about how far from home is too far from home
Is a city where you want to be or a rural area?
Are you particular about the kind of climate you will be living in while away at school?
Do you want to live on campus or off campus and if off can you get to school each day easily?
What kind of school is it in terms of ethics? Is it a strict religious school?
Many of the schools that you or your child might want to apply for offer early applications. This gives those wanting to possibly go there a chance to apply before regular admissions season. When you do this you will also be able to get an answer as to whether you have been accepted as well.
It is always a great idea to apply this way to your first choice school. You should not do this for any other school because part of the agreement when you apply this way is that you will attend the school if they accept you. So if you are accepted you are stuck s you do not want to do this unless it is for the school that you have always dreamed of attending. This type of early decision process also gives you an edge over other students because those that apply early have a much better shot at getting accepted to the school they are applying at. That is a definite bonus as well as the fact that once you have been accepted you will not have to worry any more about whether or not you will get accepted.
There is also what is known as early action and in this case you will be able to apply early without committing to anything. So with this method you will still be able to compare the financial packages that come along with the schools you are applying for. Some of these are unrestricted which allows you to apply to as many early action schools as you want to while other will only allow you to do this once.
These types of early applications might take the load off of a student but they are generally better for the college than the student. The colleges like these students because they do not need to offer them anything extra to get them to go there, in most cases they have already committed to doing so if accepted. Many people do not realize it but you can work with a school to get a better aid package but if you are an early applicant this is not likely to happen for you.
Early applications are best saved for those who have perfect or near perfect school records and grades. If you have less than stellar grades and you go up against the others applying at this time you are probably not going to get very far.
Should you really bother to pay more for those fancy colleges? In may cases the simple answer is no. These high profile schools are well known for their research professors sure, but in many cases the actual class end up getting taught by their aides most of the time. And the sizes of the classes are huge, like auditorium huge. So the actual teaching that is going on is often lower quality than other smaller less expensive schools. And getting out of college and being hit with such huge student loans to pay off can be very hard to deal with and very stressful. So if you are planning to go into a field where the pay is not in the six figures then going to a school like Yale might not be the best overall option for you anyway. All you need to do is make sure that the school that you attend has everything that you need, if it costs less money that does not mean it is not as good.
It is a common misconception that public schools are not as good as private ones because they are not as expensive to attend. This is simply not the case, the only reason why these public schools are cheaper is because they are subsidized by taxpayers money. There are many different public schools that are recognized as being just as good as many o f the Ivy League schools. And the fact that these public schools are often smaller makes them better right off the bat.
When you are applying to different colleges think outside the box, and the country. Canadian schools are great and they are much less expensive for a couple of different reasons. First off the American dollar is worth more there and the Canadian government subsidizes their schools in a big way.
It is always a good idea to apply to some lower budget schools as well as your top picks just in case it turns out that you really can’t afford your top pick after all.