At Cappex, we’re very familiar with the college search and decision process. We have some great tips we’d love to share with you on how to make your college decision so you can avoid resorting to “eenie meenie miny moe” to make your decision. In this post, we’ll talk about part 1: setting clear college priorities.  This pretty much means firmly understanding what you want out of your college experience.  If “college experience” is too vague a term, we’ll help break it down with these words of wisdom from the Cappex College Priorities Worksheet:

1. Location
The actual location of your college or university is a major factor.   If plane flights were free and time travel existed, a lot more of us would probably be studying way further from home.  So the question comes to down to where you would like to live for four years? How far from home are you comfortable being?

2. Academics
Do you know what you want to study in college?  Of the schools you were accepted to, which one has the better program for what you want to do?  Does one school have bigger classes than the other?  What type of environment do you want to learn in?

3. Campus
What are the major differences between the college campuses you’re choosing between? How long does it take to walk from the dorms to the union? Where are classes held? Is it urban or rural? Small differences in one college’s campus over the other might help you make your college decision.

4. Social Life
Some schools are more academic or more social than others, so you’ll want to find the perfect balance for you. A social life can involve parties, sports, arts, Greek life, whatever you’d want yours to revolve around.

Making the college decision is not an easy one. And if you really want help making your choice, try this worksheet.