From seniors who are almost done with high school to freshmen who are just getting started, all high school students are to some degree worried about college. There are so many questions to figure out. Where to go? What to study? How to get in? The road to college may be rough and winding, but luckily at Bolles, there are plenty of resources to guide you on this journey. The best resources: College Counselors and seniors. College counselors, of course, because their entire job is helping students through their journey into college, and seniors because by this time of year most of them have already applied to colleges and have learned a lot about the application process. 

Where to go? There are over 5,000 colleges just in America alone, leaving high schoolers with the task of somehow narrowing 5,000 down to one. Luckily, seniors have already begun this process of narrowing colleges down. 

For starters, 71% of surveyed seniors stated that they planned to stay in-state for college. Staying in-state narrows down the list of 5,000 colleges to a meager 171. Between the benefits of being close to home and getting instate tuition, staying in Florida seems to be the most logical decision for most seniors. However, even though staying in-state is the best option for a lot of students, Florida is not perfect for everyone. It is important for students to weigh all their options to figure out where is best for them. 

Out of all the factors that students must take into account when deciding a college, location was the number one most important factor for seniors this year. Location means much more than just a dot on a map. Location can determine how close you are to home, weather, cost of living, lifestyles, and countless other factors. Some people prefer being in a city while others prefer the rural countryside. Some prefer the cold weather, while others prefer to stay warm. What state or environment someone studies in really just comes down to personal preference. 

So if it is all up to personal preference, how does someone know which type of environment they personally would prefer? Well, our seniors can help us out on that question too. Surveyed seniors agreed that the best ways to decide if a college is a good fit is by going on guided tours and doing online research. Guided tours are a great way to figure out if you like a college because not only do students get to walk around the campus, but they do so while getting to learn more about the college from a student that actually goes there. This method allows students to actually interact with people who are a part of the college, which creates an environment where they can ask a lot of questions. While online research does not allow people to actually be on a campus and soak in the environment of a college, it still is a very useful tool, as students can learn what types of programs and opportunities a college offers. 

Another important factor for seniors when deciding where to go to college is academics and programming. Depending on what someone wants to study in college, some colleges might be better than others. If you want to study engineering you should look at good engineering schools, if you like business you should look at good business schools, and if you don’t know what you want to study, maybe you look at more of a liberal arts school. If you’re in this latter category and don’t know what you want to study, don’t worry, because you’re not alone. The reality is a lot of people are still trying to figure that out. Even as seniors who are about to go to college, 20% of them do not know what they want to study. 

As students begin to narrow down their college choices, it’s important to remember that you do not really have to narrow it down to only one college until the end of your senior year. As far as applications go, most seniors stated that they applied to six colleges. Some of these schools will be safety schools while others will be far reaches, but it is important to keep your options open. And if you’re on the more indecisive side, don’t worry. Multiple seniors this year are applying to over 15 colleges. Navigating the journey into college is no doubt a daunting task, but students have plenty of resources to help them along the way.