Guide to Choosing the Right College: For High School Juniors, Seniors and Their Parents

For high school juniors, seniors and their parents, the process of looking at potential colleges, accepted-student days, taking tours and narrowing down the choices can be quite a hectic experience. Too often do college students pick a school that they deemed perfect on their campus tour, only to find that living there is quite another story and then go through the even more stressful decision of whether or not to transfer. However, there are several steps that parents and potential students can take at each college campus they visit that will help ensure that the student makes the right choice on the first try.

Avoid campus tours. Now, this might seem like an outlandishly crazy idea, but campus tours with student tour-guides are often what make or break a person's decision to attend the school. The students who perform the tours are employed; they are paid for their services, which are ultimately to get people to come to their school. More often than not, a good tour is what makes a high school senior decide that that particular school is for them. However, what must be kept in mind is that college tour-guides go through at least two, sometimes three interviews plus several rigorous training sessions to teach them how to give an effective tour; student tour-guides are taught to "talk-up" their school to make it sound more appealing to those on the tour. Unfortunately because of this fact, much of the time the tours are very misleading for prospective students, and while visiting a college campus these organized tours are better left off the itinerary.

Talk to students walking around the campus grounds. That is of course, the ones who aren't rushing off to class! By talking to students at the school, a potential student and their parents can get a true, unbiased opinion of the school and have questions answered. Average students have no reason to lie; tour guides are the only ones that have an incentive (their pay, that is) to possibly fudge truths about the school and build it up higher than it should be. More often than not, students walking around on campus are more than willing to help truthfully answer questions a potential student would have, point out where buildings are, and give an honest idea of what campus life is like. Doing this also helps to build connections at the school, so should you decide that the school is for you after all, you'll already have a go-to person on campus! Remember not to be too shy to approach students milling around on the campus grounds; they were all freshmen at one time, and more often than not they are willing to share what they know with a person considering their school.

Visit the school during the week, and try the food! College campuses set up special days on weekends, mainly Saturdays, for accepted student days and tour-group days. On these days, campus dining halls will offer food that would not typically be offered during the school week- and usually, it's better food. Sometimes catching a meal can be expensive, but it's crucial to taste the food before deciding to go to the school - especially if you're a bit of a selective eater. But, don't let the price of a meal (for those who aren't residents - college residents often have meal plans which require only the swipe of their school ID) turn you away. Give it a try, it's the only way to see what you, or your child, will be eating for the next four years!

Drive around the local area that the school is located in. See what there is to do off-campus, where grocery shopping can be done, recreational activities such as bowling alleys, ice rinks and gyms are located. A lot of the time, especially with smaller schools in rural towns, students will complain that there is "nothing to do" around their school. If you, or your child, like to have many options when it comes to things to do after class and on weekends, be sure to make sure you're getting what you're looking for not only on campus, but nearby as well.

Deciding which college is the best one for you is a difficult process, but don't take a school at face-value or accept purely what you hear on a campus-tour. Do a little exploring, talk to current students and give the food a try. The most important thing when trying to choose the right school is to have as much accurate information about the school as possible. Going off to college is one of the most important times in a person's life, and choosing the right one for you is half the experience. The journey really begins when you get there and embark on the most important four years of your life - why have to make that decision more than once?