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Benjamin Schweinberg

Professor Cook

ENG 1201

27 October 2021

What is the highest determining factor of students' selections of

colleges?

Many students like me have an extremely hard decision to make in their senior year of

high school. All the different opportunities that other schools offer make it difficult to decide on

one school. When it comes down to it, what are the most important factors of colleges that help

everyone choose their dream school? Many say that it depends on an individual's importance but

is there a common factor that applies? The most important factor to be considered is a balance

between education and social life. Being mentally stable is an ability that students struggle with

in college while everything can be extremely stressful at times.

Most colleges base their advertisements on three main things such as COA (Cost of

attendance), Rankings, Student Life. The 3 advertisements can be used by every single person

and their situation. COA aims more towards the parents because of the financials and Rankings

for anyone who cant come to see the campus such as foreign students wanting an American

education. Last is student life which appeals to the students to see what their life will be like for

the next 4 years or so. Colleges make it very easy to learn about their education and campus.

Most non-profit colleges want what’s best for you so they try to be as transparent as possible. I

have been to many colleges for official visits and every time I have gone they have said in some

sort of way, “Hopefully you will all find the right college for you”. Hearing this made me feel
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welcomed but not forced to go to the college I was visiting and reassured me that this doesn’t

have to be the college I go to but rather this helps me find the qualities I want in a college.

Some students don't have much choice or say especially if their tuition is being supported

by their parents. Most parents consider colleges based on the “value” of colleges for obvious

reasons, but a lot of students base it off of “Tangible” features (Rafi). The most common tangible

features include housing, food, and campus appearance. Most students don't take into

consideration the cost of tuition or even COA since most students have someone to help them

pay for college. Most tangible features make the college look nicer and overall more appealing to

the average student. This attribute makes students feel safe and also very clean. I know by my

experiences I don’t even go to unnamed grocery stores because of the fact they are extremely

outdated all the time and just don’t feel clean and the look of the building sets the setting for the

rest of your shopping trip. To put that into perspective for a student, that would make future

students discouraged to attend that institution because of the dirty feel.

Lots of foreign students (Chinese for example) top decision-making factor is rankings.

Rankings make their college decision process a lot easier because they cannot afford to fly across

the world to visit these campuses to find all the different importances that the locals can see.

International students also don’t have in-state or out-of-state tuition so staying close to “home”

isn’t nearly as important to them as to American students. Foreign students also have more

scholarships available to them as foreign students studying in the United States are very minimal

so they are an extreme minority. Being a minority has its challenges like language barriers and

not having any friends to start with but also has its positives such as getting more scholarships,

aid, and extra help with starting out. This is why most universities that are well known have an

extremely diverse student population and a large percentage of foreign students looking to
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further their education in the states (Rafi). If universities could make a common way to look at

schools from the local’s standpoint and check all their boxes off without having to visit would be

great. We already have virtual visits but they always show you the best parts of campus and

never the others. If you could walk through the whole campus on your own kind of like how

google maps has a move-around view from the road I think that would give a more appealing

and enhanced “visit” for foreign students wanting to study in the United States.

Even if this technology was available Foreign Students still don’t get to find their perfect

college considering they miss out on one of the large parts of choosing a college, the Student

Life. One of the main reasons that they miss out on student life is that they can’t talk to the

students or tour guides in person. The in-person connection you build with someone teaches you

a lot about what their life has been like for the past few years living on campus. I know when

visiting a few colleges locally I saw the social scene in everyone at the college and nobody was

walking or talking together and that was a big difference. The social scene is very important to

me because of the obvious reasons for being left alone. With all the stress school puts on you,

you need friends to have your back and support you through the hard journey of college life.

Moving out of your home to a college dorm can be very difficult for some but moving to a

different country is extremely difficult. I could never imagine leaving my family, friends, and

home to go to a different country for education but sometimes it’s the only way if you want to

further yourself in a struggling country. Social life is very important to many college students

and can sometimes be difficult for others but without someone to support you, college can be

very difficult to live through.

Rankings of schools are very important but for the average student in America rankings

don't stand out. Most students choose a list of priorities and most often you will hear the saying,
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“Choose the place that feels like home”. Now, most students want to try and get away from their

home life but this new feeling is something different. Going on a campus visit and getting that

feeling of excitement along with comfort and security is what everyone wants in their daily lives.

There are so many features to come with colleges that it feels overwhelming but this makes

every college different. Many students don’t know exactly what they want or like but alumni at

my school say, “Your mind will click when you find the one” (Neeley). Going on a college visit

lets you experience that effect of comfort and switch in your mind. College visits are the most

important part of your college application process and if you are considering a college and don’t

know exactly if you would enjoy it there, you should visit it (Shao)!

Some believe that Quality and Reputation of schools are very important in the decision

process of choosing a school and can be many leading factors of a decision between two similar

schools. A lot of students chose or are nudged to go to certain colleges because of their family

history. Although you can get more scholarships if you had a family member go to the same

school that’s not always why they go through. Growing up you watch the colleges football

games, basketball games, etc. You build a relationship with the school and you don’t even notice

it. Sometimes you even go to their games and those are some of the childhood memories you

never forgot. Having fun experiences there with your family can sometimes force your mind to

tell you that you have to go to that college because of that reason in particular. Your family

builds that reputation for you. The quality of the school is a very broad topic and can be

determined by every single thing the college does and offers. It’s the overall look and review of

the campus which you can assess by taking a visit and only a visit because every college is

different for everyone. Just like one student could say New York University is so dirty and trashy

but another student finds it as a treasure and how beautiful the city life is.
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According to the US Board of Education in a recent poll, they have found out that the 3

most important features of a college are: Academic Quality/Reputation, a Desired program of

study, and Job placement (US Board of Education). While these are very important and are a part

of your academic experiences I’m very surprised by the results. Simply this chart is a small ratio

of students and should have been changed by a multiplier of 10 in student poll size. For instance,

this study isn’t accurate with the small amount of data collected between students and colleges

but knowing the US Board of Education this information should have been accurate. As you age

through high school students come to a realization that they are getting older and older and time

is flying by. Taking that this study is from a group of 9th Graders (Freshman) they haven’t been

able to consider this “social” aspect of schools. With seniors at my school, most have stated that

they want a school that has a very good balance of education and social life around campus. This

balance lets you live out your college experience while being able to get the very specific

education you are paying for.

Job placement after college is extremely important considering how much you are

investing in order to possibly get a well and high-paying job after graduation. Investments can be

worth it if you take the right steps and invest in certain areas. While you invest almost 100k

dollars and 4 years of your life to further your education job placement is very important. Job

placement is a new advertisement that colleges have started to adapt considering it is very

important. To introduce students into the workforce most larger universities have started doing

co-ops for some of their majors like engineering. This helps get internships and work experience

on your resume so that when the time comes to get a full-time job in the workforce you have the

experience you need to succeed in your desired field. All of my local colleges have taken in co-

ops and they have largely spread from the Cincinnati, OH metropolis area. As stated by the
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National Center for Educational Statistics, the employment rate was highest for 25 - 34 year-olds

with a bachelor’s degree or higher coming in at 87%. The employment rate for those with some

college at 80% was higher than those who had completed just high school at 74%, which was

higher than those who never completed high school 57% ”(NCES). This says that if you go to

college you are more likely to find a job by 13% if you attend college. This is most likely caused

by the experience you receive in college in your desired field. This helps you network and build

connections with businesses that help you into the workforce so that you have experience.

Having experience is another type of education, its field education. Having experience is

something that employers look for because they don’t want to take the time to train you. Having

this training makes you a valuable asset meaning companies want you which helps you have

good job placement.

Cost of Attendance, Every single topic I researched always came back to money and the

cost of college. The cost of attending a public college is extremely expensive even after aid. This

is hard for every student in America to go to college because of the financial setback it has. Most

of the loans you will have to take out get placed on the parents of the student which makes it

difficult for individuals who grew up in a low-income house to go to college. The cost at every

institution is different for everyone. They give out aid for different reasons and maybe one

college fits your situation more making you receive more aid to go to that institution. Boiling

down to it whatever institution that you get more funding to go to that meets your criteria is

normally the place students end up going. Student debt is a serious issue that the whole country

suffers from. Education Data Initiative states, 43.2 million students are in debt around an average

of $39,351 each (Hanson). Almost every student in America has this same amount of debt just
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from school and it becomes a very large part of everyone’s life. This makes it very clear that the

biggest part of college is how much it truly costs to attend a public university.

For me, taking college visits has been an extremely helpful source for my research in

choosing the right college. For me, I have used all 3 common advertisements to see what the

school’s interest is in, if it’s standing out in the rankings or if it is a college that wants to further

your life and your education. Finding your place mostly means where you fit in and what type of

activities and programs you can get involved in. Getting to learn about all these different clubs

and activities they have up-close lets you learn so much more about what you want and where

you can have all of those things. Now, most colleges all have the same clubs that you can get

involved in its cool to see the community that runs these clubs and organizations so that you can

look out for who you will be possibly hanging out with or studying with in the future. College is

most important for school but you can get an education everywhere just with a different logo on

it. A logo of Harvard or Brown would look a whole lot better but most public universities don’t

make a difference if you go to the University of Cincinnati or The Ohio State. You will be at

school for around 4 years, that’s a lot of time to be stressed out about homework or exams

without having some social life. What means most for me is finding a place where I feel at home

and safe. There can be tangible features that deter or push someone to go to that college but

everyone is different in their own ways and one college may feel like home to one person but not

to the next.
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Works Cited

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Rafi, Madeline A. “Influential Factors in the College Decision-Making Process for

Chinese Students Studying in the U.S.” Journal of International Students, vol. 8, no. 4,
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Neeley, Maddi “What is the most important feature of a college?” 19 October 2021

Shao, Jasmine. “How to Choose the Best College for You: Research, Match Your
Personality Type, Avoid Regrets, +More.” Youtube, 31 Mar. 2021,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv4qWu_8sh0&ab_channel=studyquill.
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Carlevatti, Jen. “Top Factors to Consider When Choosing a College.” Top Factors to
Consider When Choosing a College | USF Admissions, 16 Nov. 2017,
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US Board of Education. “Factors That Influence Student College Choice.” Nov. 2018.

Ngo, Chinh. “6 Factors to Consider When Choosing a College.” BestColleges.com, 14

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The NCES Fast Facts Tool provides quick answers to many education questions
(National Center for Education Statistics). National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education. (2019). Retrieved
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