How Not to Decide on the College for You
The Ten WORST Reasons to Choose a College
by Eileen Livers
Before you make your college decision, be sure to eliminate these tempting but
terrible reasons to pick a college.
1. To be with your boyfriend/girlfriend: You’re in love. Yes, you were thinking about
a school with a great Semester at Sea program, but since he/she’s going to
Landlocked U., well, maybe you’ll settle for a trip to Florida over spring break.
Right? Wrong.
First of all, think about how dependent (read—unbearably leechlike) you will be once
you realize that except for your boyfriend/girlfriend, there isn’t that much on campus
that interests you. (As in you want to study marine biology, but the only sign of
aquatic anything is fish-fry night at the dining hall.)
Second, going to the same school might save you from a broken heart –– at least for
the time being. Not going to the same school, however, will save you from gasping
for air in Coupleville as you watch your classmates date others, leaving you and your
high school sweetheart to resent your commitment and each other.
2. To be with your best friend: Same deal as above—dependence, suffocation,
potential bitter breakup. Going to college, where you’re surrounded by hundreds of
strangers (i.e., people who have no clue what your reputation was at your high
school), means a chance to explore your identity and, if you want, reinvent yourself.
With your best friend by your side, you’re pretty much obligated to be the same
person you were in high school, not to mention the fact that having a built-in best
buddy and roommate (like you weren’t planning to share a room) can prevent you
from meeting all kinds of interesting people and making new friends. But if you and
your sidekick go to different schools, you can visit each other, and then you’ll each
have twice as many people to meet and scope out.
3. It’s less than an hour’s drive to a great vacation spot. Location is important. If
you grew up in Snowstorm Central and always dreamed of a place where the
temperature climbed above 10 degrees in the winter, now is your chance to spend
some time in the South –– or vice versa. But don’t let the glare of the tropical sun or
the school’s proximity to ski slopes blind you to its other offerings or, more
importantly, the lack thereof. College will be your new home for four years, so you
want to make sure it’s a place that has (almost) everything you need and want –– like
interesting people, challenging courses, and cool hangouts.
PROTEAM DREAMQUEST CURRICULUM
7-49