It wasn’t difficult for me to narrow down my college decision to two schools. I used things such as the location, size, and cost to get me to that point. Once it came time to pick between those two schools, I found myself struggling. I changed my mind every day about what school I saw myself at all. It wasn’t until recently that I came to a decision. Below are the three things that were that were the most influential in my decision.

Food:

Food is something that I didn’t consider at first as it felt like something that I would have to just deal with. You are living on campus, you deserve to be comfortable. Food is a big part of that. I looked into what restaurants were offered at each campus, and if those restaurants took the money on your school ID. I made sure to also be realistic with myself and know that I could not spend all of my money at restaurants, so I had to make sure that the dining halls had food that I knew I could enjoy daily.

Admitted Student Tours:

I waited until I was between two schools to tour. This meant that I had already been accepted into both schools. The tours for admitted students are very different from the normal ones. They involved long presentations with a lot of information as well as the ability to meet with professors of your specific major. I found this to be very helpful. I was able to picture myself at both colleges better and receive information that was more personalized to my college experience.

Trust Your Gut:

I understand that this advice can be frustrating, as you don’t always have a gut instinct. I didn’t have one for a while. It wasn’t until I toured both schools and started to consider my life at both that I started to develop an instinctual feeling of what was right for me. It is important to not let other people make your decision for you, trust that you know yourself and what will make you happy and successful.