How do students choose their college?

How+do+students+choose+their+college%3F

For many Darlington students, college choice is a critical decision. Diverse colleges have various features that would attract students. When asking what college is right for them, students have different standards.

“Now, I am looking at engineering schools,” junior Anthony Natarella said. “I am also looking for something that is good for entrepreneurship. Someday, I want to do something in business. I want to have the best of both worlds. I  have wanted to be an engineer since I was seven years old. I want to build a plane or stuff like that.”

Junior Mathew Wang, though he doesn’t have a clear dream college yet, has his standard of choosing a college.

“I choose my college mainly on the major ranking,” Wang said. “I would like to choose a college with a high ranking in computer science … I want to do game design in the future. I made this decision [to major in computer science] last year … because I like programming.”

Different from Natarella and Wang, junior Tommy Cowan shared his interest in liberal arts.

“I am thinking about taking the liberal art track,” Cowan said. “I am not exactly sure what I want to major in, and I am also interested in science.”

Talking about his decision-making process, Cowan said, “I definitely turned to my parents for input because they both went to a liberal arts college. They both… persuaded me to at least seriously consider that route. But also, I have considered going to a state school, even staying in the state, which my parents didn’t do.”

For Cowan, he looks for more than just academics, though.

“I am looking for a college that is not too big, preferably not in an urban area, but not necessarily a rural area either. So, kind of like a midsize town. 3,000 to 10,000 students would be great.”