How to know the right school for you...

Here's what I can tell you.

You have to see yourself at the school you choose. You will be living on that campus and you better be comfortable and have a support group in place. Everyone gets homesick and that's okay, but you better have the right comfort level with the school you choose. For me it was easy, I saw myself going to the school I picked when I was barely able to walk. I went to this school that was 750 miles away from my high school and I was the only member of my graduating class attending this large university. Translation, I knew no one! I got a job, played sports and made friends very quickly. I found they were mostly in the same boat I was...they didn't know that many people either. I picked a group of about 8-10 people I thought I liked and started hanging out with them. Of the group I found 6 people I was very comfortable with and we became lifelong friends, not just acquaintances.

Here's a hint! DO NOT pick the school that "everybody's" going to from your high school...that stinks and you will regret it. Push yourself, expand your horizons it's your life... make your choices based on the things that are most important to you.

I remember my friend who went to the college his girlfriend wanted to go to. Bad choice...he was mad every time she wanted to go to a frat party and couldn't handle the "social aspects" of college. She wanted to experiment and explore, he wanted to get married...so they did, had 4 kids and then figured out they weren't compatible...go figure! Today, he regrets almost everything that happened in college because he didn't follow his instincts, he followed the girl...don't make the same mistakes he did!