10 Things to Know Before You Apply to Any College

10 Things to Know Before You Apply to Any College

I’ve done more transfer applications this year than ever before. Choosing a college is a big decision and not one you want to make twice! This post is going to serve both seniors who will soon be choosing among their acceptances, and juniors who haven’t yet committed to applying to any particular school.

Juniors especially, take note. Make sure every school passes each of these standards for you before you even consider adding them to your application list.

What You Don’t Know About a College Can Hurt You

You can always tell when a student hasn’t thought through their college choices. One giveaway is a list that includes schools with almost nothing in common—or a set of schools with a lot in common, and then one with a pretty campus. Some key features should be true for all of your schools—they will likely all be a similar size or have certain similar programs.

Another giveaway is not knowing a key fact about a school (for example, that it is affiliated with a particular church—you’d be surprised how often that happens). The most common is the student who faces that classic supplemental essay, “Why do you want to come to our school?” and has nothing to say. So let’s break this down into a Top Ten Things to Consider About Any School before you decide it’s a place you’d like to go.

1.     Location

First, the “macro” location: How close do you want to be to your home? If you love where you grew up, you want to be practical about the ease of getting to and from school, or both, you might want to stay close to home. If you’d rather go farther afield, how far is too far for your family? Keep in mind the cost of plane tickets and the ease of moving your life at least twice a year for several years.

Are you hoping to come home for regular breaks (even short ones like Thanksgiving), or planning to stay the summer and be involved in programs or classes all year? I absolutely loved my undergraduate experience and didn’t regret my school choice when I was there—but the flights to Chicago really were a hassle, and often as I drove through busy Boston traffic on the way to Logan Airport, I looked at the Boston University dorms and wondered why I hadn’t applied there.

What is the weather like? Will you be cold and miserable or hot and miserable for four years? What environmental features does the area offer? Do you love to hike or be near the ocean? (Do you know you’ll be happier near the ocean, or have you just always dreamed of living near the ocean? Do you have a way of testing that before committing to four years?)

It might sound like a lot of pressure to know this now—but think about where you’re hoping to live as an adult. You’re going to build a community in your college town. You might develop career connections. The school you attend will have its best reputation right in that area. So if you have always dreamed of working in California, or Colorado, or New York, or Georgia—pick the right place to put down roots.

After all of that, the “micro” location: Are you looking for a school in an urban, suburban or rural environment? As a general rule, an urban setting will have more outside opportunities, but a rural school might have a more close-knit campus feel and less need for a student to leave campus to learn or have a good time. How much of a “campus” feel is important to you? Similarly, how necessary is a car? My bias for undergraduates is to prioritize a place that is walker-friendly, as well as having access to public transportation. You want to know how necessary a car is to get around campus or how often students go off-campus.

While both the University of Chicago and NYU are in the heart of major cities, UChicago has more of a campus feel than NYU, which really merges into the city around it. (Each is the right fit for some students!) The University of Michigan is enormous, but because so many Ann Arbor residents are students, faculty, staff, alumni, or just plain Michigan fans, the entire city feels like part of the campus. These are things you can learn by visiting, taking virtual tours, or talking with current students.

2.     Size

This is an easy top-level decision to make because no matter what size school you’re looking for, there will be plenty out there. Are you looking to be part of an enormous community or a small close-knit school? Keep in mind that a large school doesn’t guarantee all large classes, nor does a small school guarantee all small classes. But clearly, you’re more likely to get more small classes at a smaller school.

A larger school will have more opportunities available to serve a larger student body, so you will have more variety to choose from. On the other hand, a smaller school will have opportunities you didn’t expect because they have fewer students to fill some of the same needs. When I went to Northwestern, I had never been in a marching band before, but I really wanted to try the color guard.

As the smallest school in the Big Ten, Northwestern had plenty of room in its marching band, even for a newbie like me. At Ohio State, even though the band is more than double the size, I never would have been able to do that. Even if I had been an experienced color guard member, at OSU I would have had to fight for my place in the line-up every week. (Their band may have been twice as large—but their student body was almost nine times as large.)

Are you looking for the feeling that there’s always new people to be meeting, or the feeling that you know a lot of people as you walk around campus? (Both of those can be nice feelings! But you know yourself best. Will you feel lost in a big crowd, or bored on a smaller campus?) And don’t forget that a midsize school can sometimes provide both of those feelings simultaneously!

3.     Academics

Yes, this is really important—but I didn’t put it first because it’s not actually a terribly helpful filter unless you’re pursuing a very specialized program (such as a well-known program in a highly competitive field like theater, a combined undergraduate-graduate program, or an unusual area like robotics). Most schools offer a variety of quality academic programs in most of the most popular areas, and most students enter undecided or at least uncommitted. That said, here are some things to consider once you’ve narrowed other features:

Does the school offer the undergraduate program (or programs!) you’re interested in, or enough breadth to jump around? Is the program well-known for its quality or innovation? Is there room for you to add majors, minors or certificates to specialize in areas that interest you? Is there a particular professor whose research is very important to you? What is the average student-faculty ratio? (Again, as with overall size, smaller is not automatically better—but if it is for you, you want to be aware of that number.) What kind of variety does the school offer in classes, both in style (lecture versus discussion) and in topic? How easy is it to get into the most coveted classes?

What is the core curriculum like—can you specialize early in the classes that interest you, or are you expected to take a broad liberal arts curriculum? (Which of those styles are you looking for?) Does the school follow a fairly standard semester system, or does it have a different system that has its own interesting pros and cons? A quarter system generally allows you to fit in more different classes, but the course speed may be faster than you want.

Your breaks may be at slightly different times than your friends at other schools, but perhaps that extra quarter makes study abroad a more doable possibility. Colorado College offers a unique block schedule that has students focus on just one course at a time, allowing for really deep study.

Does the school have unusual or specialized programs like early admittance to a related graduate program? This is a real risk if you’re not 100 percent committed to this path—but a huge benefit if you are. Some programs shave half a year or a year off your total requirements by combining undergraduate and graduate, and some simply save you the stress and hassle of applying and getting into graduate school—no small savings!

Does the curriculum include any internships or co-op aspects? Most schools recognize that time in the field is important in many career paths, and may have offices devoted to helping you find and secure internships. But some schools guarantee these experiences and count them toward your class requirements. In fields like engineering and journalism, that experience and those connections can be invaluable.

Basically every school has a study abroad program—but they vary in size and options. Does a school have an affiliated campus abroad? Does the program provide more or less practice in the language of the area? If studying abroad is an important part of the college experience you’re expecting, does one school make it easier than another? (Majors like engineering sometimes struggle to study abroad because of the many course requirements of their program—so look ahead to see if it’s going to be a challenge and if any schools make it possible in a way others don’t.)

4.     Athletics

Do you want to WATCH great athletics at school? If you’re looking forward to an active school sports scene, you probably already know your favorite teams, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find a great crowd at other or smaller schools. Ask about how many people watch school sports of all kinds, and visit a game if you can, to see what the experience is like. Obviously, if you’ve been a fan of your team since you were small—maybe it’s your local team or your parents are alums—you can consider applying there.

But don’t let that emotional response push you into a school that’s the wrong fit for every other reason—and if it’s a reach, consider how you can find that feeling you’re looking for at match and safety schools, too. You might find a school that doesn’t have a big football team has a great girls’ basketball or soccer team that the campus loves to support.

Do you want to PLAY on your college team? Obviously this is going to change your search significantly. Getting recruited is a long process, but worth pursuing if it’s important to you. You might need to consider schools you weren’t thinking of if you’re going to prioritize a place on the sports team, and that might be worth it, especially if it comes with scholarship money. If you love to play, but know you’re not interested in or able to play at a collegiate level, are there intramural or club teams for your favorite sport?

5.     Arts

Do you want to WATCH great performing arts? If you love to attend theater or musical performances, you might check out the programs at schools you’re looking at. At Northwestern, I could enjoy at least one, and sometimes two or three, high-quality concerts and plays almost every weekend! NU theater majors regularly go on to Broadway, so I felt absolutely spoiled (and I still miss it!). Of course, attending school in New York City would allow for visiting Broadway itself—but those shows would be a LOT more expensive!

Do you want to PARTICIPATE in performing arts? What are the opportunities to play in a school orchestra, or be in a school play, musical or even opera? Are you planning to major in music or just take part as a non-major? This question is in some ways the opposite of the first—that is, if you attend a school with an incredible performing arts program, your opportunities to participate will be limited if you are not in the program. A student who is the star of her high-school plays but doesn’t plan to major in theater might not choose a school like Northwestern, where it’s unlikely she’d be able to continue performing.

6.     Clubs & Social Offerings

How many clubs are there? Most schools—even the smallest—have 100 or more clubs to join. You’ll want to consider how niche your interests are and whether you prefer organized social events (like clubs) versus simply meeting people in dorms or classes. If you’re looking for a lot of club opportunities, actually look through the list to see what’s there. Remember that you won’t have time to do all of the things you want to do, so again, look for what excites you in a school’s offerings, but don’t knock a school out of the running for a particular lack.

I was thrilled that Northwestern had a sailing club … but I ended up joining the marching band, which also happened in the fall, and was never able to sail. I’m still sorry I missed that opportunity—but I’ll never be sorry I joined the band! So know that most schools will have far more opportunities than you have time to take advantage of, especially if you remember to go to class!

Do you care if there’s a Greek system? Most schools big enough for an active fraternity and sorority system also have a lot of other possibilities for social life, but some schools are pretty Greek-heavy, so if you aren’t interested, make sure that’s not the primary social option, housing option, or both. If you are interested, you’re likely narrowing your search to at least medium-size schools.

Keep in mind that your experience at a smaller school might have all of the same features as joining a house at a large school. If being in a particular house is a family tradition, you’ll clearly look to see it’s at any school you’re considering—but don’t let its absence deter you from a school that fits ALL of your other needs.

If religion is important to you, how does it feature on the campus? If you are looking for a house of worship on or very near campus, or an active student group related to your faith, definitely look for those in your early searching. There are just so many different religions and different varieties within religions that it’s not a guarantee you’ll find what you’re looking for at every school.

7.     Student Body

How many out-of-state students are there? This is a statistic I’ve never heard a student wonder about, until they were applying to transfer. As with all of these considerations, there is never a wrong answer for this statistic—there is only wrong for you. If you’ve lived in a state your whole life, love it there, and want to live there as an adult, it might not bother you a bit if the public college has a particularly high in-state population.

But if you’re hoping to meet more different people, or you’re considering a campus as an out-of-state student and worried you might feel out of place, you too might evaluate that number. How many international students are there? The more people from other places a campus includes, the more opportunities you’ll have to make genuine connections, getting to see and understand new viewpoints.

Do the variety of clubs suggest the kinds of people you hope to meet? This is related to the question you’ve already considered about club opportunities—but in this case, you’re considering, Even if I don’t have time to join the Dungeons & Dragons club, am I glad it’s there? Are there clubs that support causes that are important to you or behavior like service that suggest people who are going to be your friends?

What kind of reputation does the school have? Does it pride itself on rabid sports fans, “geeky” kids who will change the world with their knowledge, or caring students who serve their community? These are sweeping generalizations, but they’re also cues for the kind of people who will self-select to join those communities. You want to find a place where the people will share important values with you and also challenge you to grow!

8.     Campus Feel

You are not just studying at this school—you are living there for the next four years. So how a campus feels is important—but remember you can fall in love with many campuses if you give yourself the opportunity. Truly, almost every campus looks pretty in the snow. If a campus makes you feel uncomfortable or unhappy because it feels drab, ugly, too big, too old, too new, etc—you really might not be happy there. But if you fall in love with the charm of Duke’s old buildings (it’s true, it’s beautiful), it’s likely you can find a similar vibe at a less-competitive school for a safety you could ALSO fall in love with.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If at all possible, visit dorms and talk with students to see how easy it is to make connections. Do people tend to leave their dorm room doors open to visitors? (Would that make you feel happy and part of a community, or stressed and irritable?!) If you’re an introvert, you might be happy at a school that keeps people in smaller groupings—but if you’re an extrovert, you don’t want to learn in your first month that a school isn’t well-designed to allow you to easily and casually meet new people.

9.     Housing

This is a question both of preference and of convenience. If you dream of going to school in a city like Boston or New York, the availability and cost of housing might be a constant stress—which might be worth it to you, but you want to know that beforehand.

Do you want to live on campus or in your own apartment? (Again, and I’ll say it again—there’s no one right answer here. You can hear this question as, Is on-campus living required, when you’d rather live in an apartment in order to cook your own food? Or you can hear it as, Is on-campus housing limited by lottery, and you don’t want the stress of off-campus living?) Would you prefer to have a single room (are those limited in number?) or have a roommate?

Do you want to have the option of a substance-free dorm or a “residential college” deliberately designed to bring people together? Do you want a house with a particular theme, where you’re likely to meet other people with your interests, or a housing situation that challenges you to speak another language? Are dorms comfortable? Do they have the amenities you expect?

Are you guaranteed on-campus housing for one or more years? Is off-campus housing difficult to find, expensive, or both? If a car is necessary or preferable to have on campus, is there a place to park it? Can the dorms accommodate your food needs, whether that’s vegan, halal, kosher, nut-free, or other?

10.     Cost

How much you are willing or able to pay may rank a lot higher in your choice than I have it here—I mostly put it last because we both know it’s a factor, and it’s a very different factor for everyone. How willing are you to take on debt, or how willing to work hard in pursuing scholarships? If price is your number-one factor, your local public university is probably your best bet, but you might also get generous financial aid at a less well-known or smaller school.

Consider all of the other aspects on this list and consider what your best balance is between a school that is truly affordable and a school that you believe would give you a great education and a great experience. Don’t compromise every aspect of your college “want list” against price, but do value all of the things in this list, including price, more highly than a school’s name or reputation. And check out the College Board’s tool for estimating how much you might actually pay for a school, given the availability of financial aid.

In the End

College is so much more than a collection of classes or the degree you hold at the end. Everyone knows this, but the many variables can be overwhelming. (This is my second post on questions to ask about the schools you’re considering—and there’s only a little bit of overlap between the posts! So when you’re ready for school tours, definitely read the shorter post for questions to ask while you’re there.)

Take your time in researching, and consider all of the aspects of a school when imagining what your experience will really be like at every school you initially fall in love with.

I’ve fallen in love with many schools since becoming a college essay coach eight years ago, and often wish I could return to undergraduate again and again to try them all. My passion is for teaching students to be great writers (so you can get into and be successful in college!), but I also like to share what I’ve learned about college applications (especially from student mistakes!). For a complete system to get your college research organized, check out my Subscriber Hub of free tools at programs.carakalf.com.