Choosing a school is a difficult decision, I won’t lie. Sometimes you have a very clear choice like if you get into your dream school, but often it’s more muddled. Sometimes you even have 3-4 top choices that you got into that you have to choose between, it’s a hard choice. Here are some things I suggest you use to help decide between schools if you’re facing this obstacle: 

1. Consider how much financial aid they’re offering you: if you don’t want to be in a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay for college or you have to take out a massive loan, you have to really consider what different schools are offering you and the terms and conditions for those scholarships. 

2. Really dissect the program: go through all of the classes you’d be taking if you go there, for your major and for GenEds, and see how much of it you think you could really picture yourself enjoying. You don’t want to be paying through the nose for classes you don’t want to be taking. 

3. Talk to current students: current students can have a lot of perspective about how the program actually works and how each day functions for them. Usually there’s a way on a college’s website to contact current students, or you could always use one of the contact emails for the college and see if they have current students that you can talk to. 

4. Think about the location of the school: when considering location there are a few things you need to think about: do you want an urban campus or a rural campus, do you want a college town or a town where you have a million things to do on the weekends, do you want to be in a state with more leftward or rightward leaning politics, and many more things. All of these can make a big difference for how your college experience happens. 

5. Not necessary, but you can also think about the reputation of the school: when you go to a school like UMich or an ivy league, your reputation sometimes seems to proceed you, but not everyone gets that chance. Take into account how a BA or a BFA from each school would look on a future resume and how the reputation of the school will boost or hinder you. 

6. Make a pro and con list: If you still can’t decide after all of this, make a pro and con list for each school! If the cons balance out the pros, no matter what the pros are, it’s not the right school for you

7. Go with your gut: When you’re deciding, never let anyone else try to decide for you. In the end, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, this is your decision for your future, so trust yourself. You will pick the right one for you, I know you will