The search for a college can be both scary and exciting. College prepares students for life but finding the college that works best can prove to be difficult. When looking into colleges many things should be considered.

“Finding the best college includes a combination of factors including academic fit, financial fit, and social/co-curricular fit,” College and Career Counselor Renata Koziol said, “Spending four years in college is a huge investment of time and money and choosing the best college where a student will thrive will subsequently lead to successful employment or graduate school.”

When searching for a college, it’s important to know what type of degrees are offered. Making a decision about a career right away is not necessary, but it is important to see the options each university has to offer. Kids who are pursuing degrees in STEM-related jobs should look at colleges with the best programs for STEM degrees. Having an idea of a potential career can help narrow down the options.

“I’m only looking at direct entry nursing so I’ve looked at Belmont and Valparaiso, but colleges without direct entry I’ve visited were Louisville, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin Madison,” junior Isla Gilmour said.

Something to consider when choosing a college is its location. Location can be climate, proximity to family or the setting. Students looking at going to warm places should consider schools like on coasts like UCLA or Florida. Students looking to be close to family should look at staying in-state.

“I would like to be close to family, but the climate of the state doesn’t matter as much to me,” senior Jaric Rubel said.

Price is an issue regarding college. College is expensive, and students want to walk out with as little debt as possible. Price varies for all schools, so looking at what is affordable can ensure little debt and less stress.

“Students and parents can determine the affordability of a college by complete the Net Price Calculator before even applying to the college,” Renata Koziol said.

Tuition can be reduced through scholarship, which can be obtained in many ways. Sports like baseball, basketball and football can grant a student scholarships. There are also opportunities in clubs like Young Life for their leadership program. Looking at universities and looking at qualifications for scholarships helps reduce price.

“While location and what the school has to offer are important, I rely heavily on scholarship,” junior Cooper Bridges said.

Looking at the qualifications to enroll at a specific university will help narrow down and endless list of options. Qualifications include GPA, test scores,  and clubs and activities a student is involved in . Universities look at not only the grades of students, but what they were doing throughout high school.

Having a well rounded high school resume can benefit a student as he or she compete with millions of other students to get into an university. Also, it is important to look at the  admission rate. Have an expectation of what it takes to get into a particular university and the likelihood of attending at that school.,

“I’ve always pushed to be my best and strive for greatness,” said Junior Liam Nichols. “ I’ve kept a level head and stayed out of trouble.”

Class size can also be a deciding factor in choosing the right college. Universities like Arizona State have very large class sizes, with  has approximately 42,000 undergraduates, if a student is content with large class sizes, that shouldn’t be a deterrent, but if someone wants a more intimate and individualized classroom experience smaller universities should be considered like Davidson, approximately 1,800 undergraduates.

“It is important to be open minded when starting the college research process and consider small/medium/large schools, private and public, location, and setting (urban, suburban, rural)” said Renata Koziol.

Colleges that have flexible scheduling for their courses can be a big reason to attend a certain university. Students have busy lives. They balance jobs, relationships, schooling, friends and family and having fun. Universities that make it easier to balance a busy lifestyle can be appealing to those who live busy lives.

Though the search for the right college can be stressful, it can be easier when following the right steps and working hard.

“Students need to pursue higher education or vocational training after high school in order to obtain certain desired occupation,” Koziol said. “Obtaining a college education can position students to attain higher paying jobs with medical, life insurance, and retirement benefits.”