Selecting a Good Fit College

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I am waitlisted by 2 universities, which I want to attend.</p>

<p>However, I did not think about fit for the schools, which actually accepted me.</p>

<p>I was accepted by Berkeley, UCLA, USC, and NYU. There are also other universities that accepted me.</p>

<p>I seem to find flaws in each campus that deter me from wanting to attend each campus.</p>

<p>Can anyone help me decide between these universities?</p>

<p>Berkeley: I have heard there the surrounding area/near campus is not good.</p>

<p>UCLA: It’s ok, but most of the poeople I know attend this university. I want to have an experience different from high school. Even though I am in state, I received no financial aid from this campus.</p>

<p>USC: Also, ok. However, I heard the surrounding area isn’t good.</p>

<p>NYU: Financial aid package is not bad, but it could be better. It would be different to be in New York instead of SoCal.</p>

2

<p>There are also homeless people in LA and New York…</p>

3

<p>What major? What do you want to do eventually?</p>

4

<p>I applied undecided, but I want to choose a major in Economics or History in my 2nd year.</p>

5

<p>Any opinions?</p>

<p>I don’t really see myself in any of my back up universities, but I will have to choose one.</p>

<p>Should I take a year off?
My counselor, parents, and school principal seem to be against this option.</p>

6

<p>I am also considering in majoring in Secondary education.</p>

7

<p>If there is any chance that you are going to do secondary education, you probably should choose the school that will leave you with the least amount of student debt. That is a wonderful career, but you could end up taking very near forever to pay off your student loans.</p>

<p>Taking a gap year is always an option BUT you have to have a good plan for what you are going to do with it. It probably is not too late to do a student exchange program - try [AFS</a> Intercultural Programs](<a href=“http://www.afs.org%5DAFS”>http://www.afs.org) or [Youth</a> For Understanding](<a href=“http://www.yfu.org%5DYouth”>http://www.yfu.org) to see what they have open for the fall and whether those options are within your budget. You also have a dynamite (and unbelievably inexpensive) community college system in California. A year or two there could help you focus better on the career you want and the college environment you really want to be in.</p>

<p>Every single college and university has some flaw that deter you from wanting to attend if you let it. You need to look at the things that you LIKE at each one on your list. When you find the one that has more things to like, you will have your best fit from that list.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the advice. I am going to see Berkeley next week to find out if I feel like attend their campus.</p>

9

<p>You have excellent choices here. Please do not take a gap year. I second you go for the school that you come out with the least debt.</p>

10

<p>Berkeley is the best of the California schools you’ve been admitted to from an academic basis. Who cares what the “surrounding area” is like? Most of your time will be on campus, or can take the BART to an area outside anything you don’t like.</p>

<p>NYU does not have a campus or major sports. You can’t go wrong academically. The question is: Do you want to spend 4 years going to a city or 4 years going to a college that is close to a city (San Francisco, not Oakland).</p>

11

<p>As someone who goes to a school whose surrounding area is not great (I mean, it has some nice resturants and a movie thearter, which I imagine is true of Oakland, and a lot of it is best avoided), I think its not that big a deal. I mean, I don’t know much about Berkley’s social life, but Wesleyan is TINY compared to it, and doesn’t have a city as close, and I’m never bored when I stay on campus all weekend almost every weekend.</p>