The Right Formula For College

Tonight's post contains no links to the outside world. I may offend some with this but I want to insert a reality check into this blog. When choosing a college, there are many things to consider. Cost, location, student population, majors offered, and financial aid package are just a few of the considerations that you must make.

With the costs of college on the rise and students taking out more and more loans, it seems logical that schools with lower price tags become more attractive right? Not necessarily. For example, my younger sister went to a private college to get her degree in pharmacy. It was an accelerated program and when she was done she had her doctorate, AND $100, 000 in student loans. By the way, she worked part-time and was a Resident Advisor on her floor (this takes care of room costs) and still came out up to her well educated eyeballs in debt. Here's the good news, she got a job as a pharmacist making in the low six figures to start! Here is the bad news, not everyone is so lucky.

This is by no means a slant on private schools or the college system in general. All I want to bring to light is this one point. BE SURE THAT THE JOB YOU ARE TRYING TO GET WILL COVER THE COST OF YOU TRYING TO GET IT!! You may be the most well educated person you know with a degree worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The truth is if you can't pay back the loans the banks don't care how smart you are. I'm currently working on finding some sites that can help you to calculate this. More to come!

Looking for a school?

Okay here's the process:

1. Begin your search
2. Refine your search
3. Build a list of schools to compare
4. Pinpoint locations
5. Export search results to spreadsheet

All of this can be accomplished at the National Center for Education Statistics site called College Navigator.

This is an effective site to help build a base of information of schools across the country. They will help you locate the schools that might be the best fit based on the criteria set forth. Check it out!

Virtual College Visits

You can take college classes online. You can even get degrees online from accredited institutions. Did you know that now you can even visit colleges on the other side of the country right from the comfort of your own computer? With Campustours you are able to take a virtual walk-thru of tons of schools with more being added all the time.

Its very expensive, especially with rising cost of gas, to visit potential colleges. Although Campustours houses the most virtual visits, many schools have started to offer similar services. A quick search for your potential school + the words "virtual tour" will most likely get you where you want to go.

One note of caution: Campustours specializes in online views of college campuses. When in doubt, it almost always makes sense to trust the experts. I would personally try both tours if they are available.

Many of us need some help locating that College or University that will fit our needs. Try the college search to locate a school that may be right for you!

Tell a friend about our site! We welcome your comments.

Some key elements to choosing a school...

Here's a quick checklist to review before you make any commitments:

1. Size of the student body
2. Location (can Mom and Dad get there easily and unannounced!)
3. Academic programs (pick something that allows you to be employable)
4. Campus life
5. Cost (of course)
6. Diversity

Looking for Business Schools?

Businessweek has done some research on the best business schools in the country. Here's the skinny:

1. Penn
2. Virginia
3. Notre Dame
4. Cornell

Check out the official list for the hot 100.

Picking the Right School?

So much to think about when choosing the right school...

The cost?
The major?
The night-life?
2 year/4 year?
The football team?
The basketball team?
Dorms?
Frats?
Books?

Upcoming reports will dive more deeply into some of the critical elements to consider when selecting a school. In the mean time check out some of our RSS feeds located in the right pane. Stay tuned for more...