Rachel’s Top 10 Must Haves in a College

Hey MyMajors Reader! It’s me again and it’s college application season. I finally narrowed my options down to my top ten schools! Isn’t that exciting??! Some of you may be wondering how I went from twenty-eight to ten. And my answer would be “very carefully”. A lot people ask me what I personally look for in a school. Here’s My Main Musts for Moving to a Maintain a Major. Translation: top ten things to look for in a school (in no particular order).

1) LOCATION… I LOVE travelling. Don’t get to do it much, but I love going to new places and seeing new things. All of the schools I’m applying to aren’t in my area. A few are in Texas, but the closest one is still over an hour away. Of course, since I am a Southern girl, I am partial to schools in the South. J One of the main reasons I love travelling is attributed to my love of history. I find the history of the founding of America to be absolutely fascinating. So of course, I’ve always want to visit Boston and the New England area.

2) REPUTATION… But I don’t just want to go far away. It has to be a cool faraway place. So as soon as Iowa State University started sending me mail, I pretty much said NO! (No offense to Iowanians) But seriously, what’s even in Iowa??  I also try to find out how many people have heard of the school. If a school emails me that no one has ever heard of, then most likely it isn’t a very prestigious school.

3) FAITH… As a full-blood Baptist, a major aspect I’m looking at is their religious beliefs. It wouldn’t make much since for me to go to a Methodist school if I don’t believe what they teach. But another thing to consider is not just Baptist schools, or whatever denomination you consider yourself to be, but also interdenominational schools. This type of environment gives you the opportunity to learn alongside kids who maybe don’t come from the same background you do. People who can help you better understand the diverse culture we live in.

4) CAMPUS… What does this place look like? Is the campus nice? Do I have to walk a mile and a half uphill to get from 1^st period to 2^nd period?? You MUST be able to PICTURE yourself going to school there. This isn’t just a vacation spot. This will be your home away from home.

5) FOOD… I know, I know. How could food possibly matter that much to a skinny white girl?? I’m glad you asked. J I’ve eaten in my fair share of college cafeterias and only a few have impressed me. I’m one of those kind of people that decides if I like a camp based on if I can identify what they serve me at dinner. Another thing is do they have a good variety of places to eat outside campus? Is there a grocery store nearby if I need some last minute Cheetoe Puffs??

6) SPORTS… I don’t know about y’all but watching sports on TV all the time can get kind of old. And I love me some Friday night football when the players are up-close and personal. If a school has no athletic events, what do these people do on the weekends??!

7) MAJOR… This is MyMajors.com. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that finding a major is kind of important. If you pick a school you like, that has your sport, and has a really nice campus, but doesn’t have your major, you’re not going to be able to go very far in your college career!

8) PROGRAMS… This goes along with your major. If you find a school that does have your major, but simply offers it to get people to go there, that’s almost as bad as not having your major. Find a school that is known for that major. Look to see what programs they focus on. For example, in my search for schools, this occurred a lot. One college had speech communications, but it was only one course that was tacked onto their social work degree, but another one had a very extensive communications program, where I could major in speech communications and be tutored by someone in my field.

9) INFORMATION… How easily can you find the answers to your questions about the school? Do they have pretty good people taking admissions calls, or are they excellent? How helpful is their website? I like to think of a school’s informational tools as how much they really want you to know about the school. How much do they care about your questions and concerns?

10) PEOPLE… This is probably one of the most important. When you go to college, typically you don’t know many people, especially if it’s far away. As humans, we have to have community. We are created to need other people. If you visit a school and you can’t find a single person you can have a real conversation with, you should keep looking!

Well that’s my top ten. Obviously, there are a lot of other things to consider when looking into college. Like the financial angle and academics, but I figured those were a given… I hope this list was helpful in your search for the best college. I’ll let you know over the next few months how my search goes. Happy Hunting! For colleges, not animals… unless you prefer to hunt the latter… then I wish you luck on that too… J

God Bless, Rachel