10 Tips On Choosing The Right College

As I’ve mentioned a few times, my plan for the month of June is to upload content every single day to both my blog and YouTube channel. I will be sticking to my usual fashion content on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but come Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I will be cranking out my back to school/college related content.

I know to some it may seem really early, but this time last year was when I was starting to get really antsy about college and was binging all kinds of content. So, here I am kick-starting the month with one of my most requested topics: choosing the right college.

As most of you know, I am going to be a sophomore Fashion Merchandising student at Kent State University. Being from Maryland, I am an out of state student and am about four and a half hours away from Kent.

Before I begin, I want to remind you that no two college experiences are quite the same. Not only does everyone have a different experience, but so is everyone’s situation in regards to finances, family, etc.

I also want to touch on community college—I know so many kids who frown upon community college when in reality over 50% of the kids I went to high school with ended up starting at community college or stayed in state. I wish more people would normalize community college and recognize that it is absolutely a good path to take, especially if you are undecided on your major or are looking to save thousands of dollars. With that being said, here are ten tips on choosing the right school for you!

1: Consider Your Major

Deciding what I wanted to major in was truly the first step in my college decision process. My parents made it clear that if we were undecided on our major we would be going to community college for the first two years, which in that case would have been the smartest move. Luckily, I knew by my junior year that I was very interested in double majoring in Fashion Merchandising and Journalism.

Once I had decided on two majors I started researching top schools in both of these fields. When deciding which schools to visit, I made sure that the university offered both majors, not just one. If you’re not sure what you want to major in, consider what you’re interested in/what your strengths are and go from there.

2: Consider Your Financial Situation

Finances, for me, were the number one deciding factor for my college process. Once I had generated a list of schools I was interested in visiting, I immediately crossed off schools that were over $40,000 a year. Ultimately, we aimed at $35,000 a year or less.

I recognize that everyone’s financial situation is different- some people’s grandparents pay for their education, parents help out, and some kids pay their entire way. I cannot stress enough how important it is to sit down with your parents and talk through your situation; considering debt and how much money you personally will be contributing are crucial.

3: Consider Debt

I know that debt goes along with financial situation but it is so incredibly important that I just have to give it it’s own separate point. I know so many high school kids who say “well the cost doesn’t matter, I’ll just get a loan”. While yes, you can get loans you want to take out as few as possible. Why, you may ask? Because loans acrew interest like wildfire so unless you, yourself are paying them back as the year goes (which is what I did this past year) you could end up paying nearly double the amount the bank lent you if you play your cards wrong.

It’s also important to consider what field you are going into. For instance, I will most likely be working in the fashion industry post-grad. I hate to admit it but an entry-level salary for a fashion position is nothing special considering I will likely be living in the city, overpaying for a tiny apartment. Loans are the last thing I am going to want to be paying off at that stage of life! Take debt into consideration; I promise you you will thank yourself later.

4: Consider Location

Many choose to go to school in-state to save money or because they simply want to be closer to home. Personally, there was no school in Maryland that offered Fashion Merchandising so I knew from the beginning I would be going to an out of state school. Luckily, Kent ended up giving me an amazing scholarship that made going there cheaper than it would have been to stay in Maryland.

I also wanted to be at a school that was within driving distance from home. Kent is the perfect distance for me: if need be I could drive from home to school and back in one day; however, the drive is long enough that I can’t just spontaneously decide I want to come home every time I’m homesick. I also loved that it was somewhere where nobody from my hometown would be going so I would truly have a fresh start.

I encourage you to think long and hard about the physical location and ask yourself: Am I am homebody, do I want to be able to visit home often, will I need to buy a plane ticket to get home, etc? And the location of the actual campus: Is there a downtown, is it in a city, can you get to “outside life” easily, are there things to do around the town, etc?

5: Consider Weather

For some people, the weather is a huge factor. Admittedly, as a high schooler, I always said I wanted to go to school somewhere warm. However, I quickly learned that sunshine was a silly reason for me to choose a college. While Ohio definitely isn’t my first state of choice, there were so many other factors that outweighed the fact that it’s cold 75% of the school year, lol.

6: Consider What You Want out of school

Ask yourself what you want out of your school. Are you hoping to go to a football school, join greek life, get involved with the journalism program, have a fun party atmosphere, etc?

The first college I visited was the Fashion Institute of Technology and I hated it. However, touring this school was crucial in my college decision process because that tour showed me all the things I did/didn’t want in a school. I quickly realized I wanted to attend a four-year university that had students of all majors, not just those in the fashion industry.

While football wasn’t a deal-breaker to me, I liked Kent (my #1) over UNCG (my #2) because they had a football team, greek life, and so many other areas to get involved both within fashion and beyond. Ultimately, becuase Kent checked all those boxes, was close-ish to home, in a location I loved and was affordable it was the school for me.

7: Consider the networking

College is the number one easiest place to make connections. Chances are pretty high that your professors know someone important within the industry who could help you land a potential internship or job post-grad. Making connections and networking with not only your professors but other faculty members on campus is so important. Everyone knows somewhere there. Because Kent is the #4 fashion school in the United States I knew that its name would hold weight in the real world.

8: Consider Greek Life

For some, getting involved with Greek Life is a make or break situation for them, especially if their previous family members belonged to a specific sorority. If you are someone who wants to get involved in a sorority or fraternity, keep that in mind when looking at schools. I promise you though, you can have plenty of fun in college without having greek life on campus!

9: When You Know You Know

As cheesy as it sounds, when you know you really will know. At least that’s how I felt when I walked on to Kent’s campus for the very first time. By the end of my tour, I knew that it was the school I would attend assuming I got accepted. Something about it will just feel right; it’s so hard to describe the feeling but I have so many friends that will vouch for me on this one!

10: Trust Your Gut

At the end of the day, if you are torn between two different schools, tour the final two options again and then trust your gut. I know that may sound lame but it is so important!

Well, friends, that’s all the advice I’ve got for choosing a college that’s right for you. I hope you found this post helpful and that it can guide you in the right direction when going through the college decision process. If you have any other back to school requests be sure to leave them in the comments below and I will add them to the schedule!

With love, McKenz

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