Choosing the right college for you (art college)

The cost to attend a bigger school can be less than a smaller school because of the number of students attending. There are more clubs and activities to choose from because of a more diverse student population, which can be great for those who like to be social and stay involved. Research facilities are often state-of-the-art and fully funded, which attracts distinguished faculty from all over the world. Athletic programs are also well funded and extremely competitive, which helps attract top athletes.

Big colleges typically offer less individualized attention to undergraduate students because of the sheer volume of students. To get attention, students need to be assertive and persistent, which can be challenging in those first year or two of college. Students who are struggling academically or personally may not get the help they need and get lost in the shuffle. Small colleges, by comparison, have fewer students on campus and smaller class size. Small colleges are typically close knit with plenty of familiar faces. Classes are taught by professors who are more focused on teaching rather than research.

Undergraduate students can write more papers and practice makes perfect! Students who want to pursue a non-traditional major can often work with an advisor at a small college to design their own major to meet their professional goals. Small colleges can be ideal for students who want a close-knit student community, but can be isolating-especially in a rural area. There are fewer majors available to choose from and fewer research facilities. This could possibly put students at a disadvantage if they want to continue on to doctoral study. To some students, attending college in a large, urban setting can feel exciting while other students seek schools in a quite rural setting.

Urban Setting Rural Settings Urban schools are those in cities of more than , people. Sometimes urban schools are located right in the heart of the city think DePaul University in the loop of Chicago , and others might be on the fringe.

Big College vs Small College

Students of urban schools have access to plenty of off campus entertainment including clubs, bars, movies, plays, concerts, and sports events. Urban schools can have more variety in their internship opportunities due to their proximity to a variety of companies and corporations. Students who want to pursue a career in social services can find plenty of volunteer opportunities in areas such as child care, at risk programs, homeless services, and human rights. Urban schools offer students the chance to learn about many different cultures both on campus and in the community.

Big cities tend to have multiple colleges, giving students the ability to freely interact and network with students from other schools. Students at urban schools may not even need a car to get around since there are typically public transportation systems in these areas which can get students around town, to a variety of housing options, or to bus and train stations.

Rural schools are those in communities of less than 25, people. Rural schools can be great options for students who want to study environmental science and agriculture since they provide access to natural laboratories. Need to clear your head before a big exam? Rural schools can offer an easy getaway to hiking, biking, walking, surfing, hiking, or a scenic drive. Events are usually held on campus, allowing students to get to know each other and develop on campus friendships.

While there may be less variety in internship opportunities, rural schools often partner with larger organizations outside the area to offer professional development opportunities. Private schools are those which are not operated by the government. They may be faith based or secular or may even specialize in a specific area of study.

Public schools receive most their funding from the government and are more susceptible to funding decisions at the political level. Size Student Involvement Cost Diversity Generally speaking, public schools are larger than private schools. Public schools typically have a bigger campus, more students, and larger class sizes than private schools.

How to Choose a College | College Raptor

They also offer more majors, sports, clubs, organizations, and social opportunities for a wider range of students. Students at a private school are typically close knit and dedicated to academic success. Students may be more focused on coursework and academics to graduate on time and not take on additional debt load, which may be higher at a private institution.

Full time students at private schools may find it harder to work while going to school because of this increased academic demand and will fill their down time with school activities. While public schools also offer a rigorous curriculum, larger class size means fewer papers and projects, which can free up time for work opportunities.

6 steps to choosing the right college

On the surface, private schools typically cost more to attend than public schools. However, they also provide extensive scholarship programs and financial incentives. Students have their test scores and grades from high school or prior academic institutions closely reviewed during the admission process which allows both the school and the student to negotiate cost. Cost of a private school should not be a deterrent to apply.

Public schools often offer significant discounts for students who attend a school in their home state. Rankings are not evil because they can be manipulated. You want to make sure they actually teach classes for undergrads, otherwise the simple fact that they receive a paycheck from a given institution means little to you. In reality, colleges have different strengths for different student populations. Some schools have produced a disproportionate number of authors, others engineers, and still others artists or actors.

The best school is one that gives you the forum to stretch your comfort zone intellectually and socially. It will challenge your thoughts and introduce you to new ways of thinking. It will prepare you to make your mark on the world. To make this determination does not mean to put like colleges on a level playing field, it means to look at them individually and to look at the quality of the output and the resources they put into getting you there.

We cannot all use a similar ranking system because we do not have a similar set of priorities. For some students, a politically active environment is key. Others may want a Holocaust teaching and research center while still another may want Division III intercollegiate water polo. Your priorities are not right or wrong. Your challenge is to know what you want or some of it, anyway , and to proudly pursue it.

Be proud of who you are and what you have the potential to become. Find the place that you believe will best let you do this and enjoy it. College admissions professionals are often adept at showing you the human and personal side of a school, no matter how big or small. They can give you example after example of the personal interaction between student and professor that lead to research opportunities, internships, mentoring or friendships.

Schools want you to know that you are part of a community—not just a number—and that is extremely important. Numbers, however, do have a place in the college selection process because they can reveal information that tells a story about the school. The number of volumes housed in the library used to be a bragging point, but thanks to the Internet and intra-library loan, this number is not significant in determining the quality of the education offered by a college.

Some numbers are nice but not vital. Still other numbers can be deceiving. For example, many prospective students will often ask for the student-to-teacher ratio. While this number may make the environment sound intimate and personal, it simply gives you the number of students per faculty member. Does that include teachers on sabbatical or those who do not teach lower level coursework? You want to know how many people will be in class with you, so average class size is a much more meaningful number.

There are still other numbers that will give you a very clear picture of what a school does well or not , and I highly recommend that you seek out these numbers. The retention rate is the number of first year students who come back for their second year. This statistic alone should certainly not be a sole factor in making a decision, but it is an excellent measure to include in your decision-making process. Graduation rate is the other variable that is important for you, the good consumer, to know.

We tend to care a lot about who a school lets in, but we should really care as much, if not more, about who gets out.

Schools are required to report graduation rates to the federal government as a six-year graduation rate; that is, the number of students who graduate within six years. These schools may have factors that influence their retention and graduation rates like the affluence of their student body , but the stats do tell you something. Where can you find these statistics? College Raptor provides College Rankings that include all of these statistics, plus a host of others. Society often prizes delivering life in bite size morsels. Twitter, Facebook and text message updates are all fractions of thoughts which, communicated effectively, can give us a sense of a greater thought or idea.

High school students often try to categorize prospective colleges into these same info-bits: Sound like a daunting number, so you cross it off your list? Dorms and clubs further dissect the originally amorphous sounding number into manageable groups. Many big schools will tout the fact that they have the resources of a big school with the feel of a small school, and U of Maryland has gone to great lengths to ensure that you feel like much more than just a number. Thanks to the electronic super highway, you could actually conduct an entire college search from the confines of your home.

College websites, virtual campus tours, school sponsored blogs and chats, and online college newspapers allow you to collect a tremendous amount of information without a school ever knowing who you are or that you exist. But, simply lurking on the internet can be the wrong approach when it comes time to make your decision. Many schools will keep track of these meaningful interactions and take this into account when determining how sincere your interest in them really is. At schools that need ways to delineate between similar students, your demonstrated interest could potentially push you off the bubble and into the acceptance pool.

When you visit colleges, you hear the finely honed messages carefully crafted by college admissions offices that intend to appeal to teens and parents. So, how do you get the real view of what goes on at a school? No college is perfect, but in a visit that often only lasts a few hours, it can be hard to get the whole picture. The campus newspaper can provide a great window into the real life on campus…the good, the bad and the ugly.

Campus newspapers are largely uncensored by the administration because free speech and the first amendment are priorities for faculty and students alike. Some examples of how the campus newspaper can give you the real scoop:. It took two parts? What might that say about life on campus? You can also find out how tight budgets are affecting how schools do business.

• The Fall and Rise of Political Leaders: Olof Palme, Olusegun Obasanjo, and Indira Gandhi.
• Thunder Riders Ascension.
• Lectures on Algebraic Geometry II: Basic Concepts, Coherent Cohomology, Curves and their Jacobians (Aspects of Mathematics).
• One thought on “How to Choose a College”.
• The Blacksmith King.

Every school will have its issues and its controversies. Keep these in mind and keep them in perspective. Are these issues important to you?