Additional resources: Choosing a college

When trying to decide on the right college for you, it is important to first narrow your focus. You may want to start by looking at three key areas: size of institution, location, and general academic areas of interest.

Size

Consider the type of environment you would like to experience in college. Do you want to be surrounded by tens of thousands of other students, know the first name of everyone on campus, or have something in between? You may want to visit a college or university of each size early on in your search to see what feels most comfortable.

Location

Think about how close you want to be to your home — do you want to make it home for Sunday dinners with your family and have someone there to do laundry for you — or do you want to be further away, with fewer trips home?

General Academic Area of Interest

You do not need to know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life right now. However, you may want to give some consideration to the types of classes you enjoy. Do you have more interest in math and science, English and history, or the arts? This can help to determine what type of school might be best for you (e.g. liberal arts and sciences, engineering, technical, conservatory, etc.). When looking at colleges, you may want to look for programs not only in your specific area of interest, but in areas that complement that interest. The breadth of programs offered, and the ease of changing majors may be things to consider.

By looking at these three categories, you can dramatically narrow the focus of your search. Once you have a shorter list to work with, researching the specifics will be much easier. You can look into costs, financial aid, specific programs, student life, internship opportunities — whatever else might be important in selecting the right college for you. Please feel free to surf the rest of this site to see if Northwestern is the right place for you.

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