Hunting For That Perfect College? Here’s How To Make Open Days Easier To Navigate!
You know that next school year you want to start college. The only problem is you’re not sure where you want to go yet. There are so many great colleges to choose from that picking just one is incredibly daunting. Everyone keeps saying to pick the college you like best, but that’s the problem—you don’t know which college is your favorite.
The important thing to realize is that everyone struggles when it comes to picking a college. You’re moving away from home, possibly for the first time, so it’s natural to want to find that perfect place to move to. After all, your college will be your home for about the next four years, so it’s important to ensure you pick the right place for you.
To make the college hunting process a little easier to navigate, below are a few tips to take note of:
Go and see each college in person
While you could just choose to look at colleges online, it’s much better to visit them in person. You can’t get a proper feel for a place without going there and soaking up the atmosphere. Plus, pictures can be deceiving; just because the images online of a certain college look nice, that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily nice. A lot of the time, the images that are shown on websites are the pictures that capture the place in the best light. So it’s always worth taking the time to go and visit it yourself to ensure that all is what it seems.
Book a hotel for the night before
As well as visiting the college itself, it’s also a good idea to spend some time getting to know the area. One of the best ways to do that is to book yourself into a hotel and spend some time looking around the town or city, getting to know it a little better. For a suitable hotel, it’s worth having a look at the University Hotel Network, as there are plenty of hotels situated near colleges listed on there.
Take a pen and paper with you
When you go and look at colleges, there will be a lot to take in. You’ll be told about the university itself, the local area, your course, and goodness knows what else, so it’s a good idea to take a pen and notepad with you. That way you can note down anything important that you think you may end up forgetting, such as the deadline date for applications.
Look at the accommodation options
Before choosing a college, it’s a good idea to take the time to look at the accommodation options on offer. If you’re able to, take a tour of the dormitories, to get an idea of which ones you like best, as well as which ones are within your price range. Note down the names of the halls that you like and why you like them so that later on you can refer back to them.
Finding that perfect college is never going to be easy, regardless of whether you already know what course you want to take. Hopefully, the tips and advice above will help to make the process of picking the perfect college, that little bit easier.
I so agree with visiting the college as this will be your home for the next 4 years. When you schedule a visit it at times includes lunch in the cafeteria
Wish I had read this a few years ago when my daughter was going through this process. Very informative!
You are so right! This is so important. My best friend’s son is going to college next year, she needs to read this.
Wow these are some great tips for college seekers! Wish I had this when I was looking! Thank you for sharing!
So different to how I went to university! I didn’t have to live there, instead I lived at home for a little while then moved in with friends.
This is very true! Thanks for these wonderful tips. I wish I could’ve read them back when I was still looking for colleges
In choosing a college school you have to reconsider a lot of things and you have to be sure about everything because this will be your first step to succeed in life. This post was very detailed and will be very helpful to the students in picking the right choice.
These are great tips. I am glad I don’t have to worry about this now, but my kids will be old enough soon. Thanks
I think parents many times are lost in navigating this stuff. All good advice here.
What a great tip for parent and teenagers choosing a college. I don’t have to worry for another few years to come but this looks very helpful.
These is such important advice. Looking for the right college can be so challenging.