to choose a college/
Some lucky 17-year-olds are able to make a big decision at the end of their year, one that is largely outside of their comfort zone.
In the US, a four-year education can cost as much as half a mil dollars when you add up the costs and the opportunities lost. It can change our personality, our learning, and most importantly, the systems that we live within for the rest our lives.
A simple way to simplify a decision this complex is to keep it simple. We can start by vividly describing all the factors, flavors and preferences that influence the decision (I’ve heard them all from students who I have coached or had time with), and then prune them away.
- The weather is great there
- Recycling bins are located throughout the campus
- The tour guide who showed us around was cute/engaging/friendly
- I would enjoy watching football matches
- I will impress my peers at high school
- The alternative is more expensive
- The price is high, so the quality must be higher
- I could make the soccer team
- I grew watching my school’s team on television
- They have a good math program, I’ve heard.
- The laundry is close to my home and will make it easier for me to do laundry
- It’s far away from my home and I won’t be at home much.
- My parents visited there
- I didn’t take my parents there
- Feels right
- I am tired of it and want to move on.
- It was hard to get in, but I’m glad I did.
- I felt intimidated and it was difficult to get in.
- My guidance counselor told me it was a “good” school
- People I know have heard about this school
- This is the best place to begin my journey.
These are often matters of taste and we only bring them up when we don’t want to look at the bigger picture or are afraid of examining the issues. I chose my college partly because of the radio station that I heard or didn’t hear when I visited campus.
Here’s another way of looking at it. We can use this to gain insight into adult decisions such as where to work, live and who to hang out. Two parts are involved:
- Do the people that this place attracts look like the type of people I would want to spend more time with?
- Does the system in place here push, cajole and process people to become the type of person I would like to be more like?
That’s it.
It does not matter if a campus is beautiful or if a football team is successful. It doesn’t really matter that it was sunny the day you went. If… unless these factors are what you thought would attract and keep the people in your #1.
It’s not a party college because the campus has a great liquor store. It’s a “party school” because #1 and #2 together create a system that is self-perpetuating.
After answering these two questions choose the least expensive way to get you where you want to go.
This decision may seem big because it is about you. It’s not about who you are now. You are not the person you currently are.
