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Dear Black-Ops,

I’m a senior in high school, and I’m trying to decide what college to attend. It's kind of a tossup because both have important factors, but they are different enough that it is hard to decide, I guess it comes down to, should I choose a college for the school, or the future after it?

~ Amburlin

Dear Amburlin,

Choosing a college to attend is a big step in life. There is never just one thing to consider when making the choice. The big things to ask are the following:

1)What are the average class sizes? This will tell you what the approximate ratio of students to professors is, and then how accessible they will or won’t be. The higher the ratio the lower the availability, this comes down to less one on one help.

2)Are there clubs and other non-academic activities to choose from? Lets face it, college is just another version of high school, except that you live there and it’s harder to escape the atmosphere of “forced” learning. The more you get involved the easier it will be to stay somewhat sane.

3)Is the community surrounding the campus decent? Meaning that there is somewhere to go off campus that isn’t a complete waste of time. There’s a mall or a park or some other point of interest that draws people off campus.

I would choose the one that ensures the better future afterward. I don’t pick things based on immediate gratification. I tend to choose things; no matter absurd they appear that have better consequences further into the future. My advice is simple, don’t choose the school based on how good their sports team is, nor on how aesthetically pleasing the building are. It could be the most run down campus in the world, but have the highest graduation and alumni success rate. When examining your options be sure to dig deep and look beyond what they want you to see. Ask if you could sit in a class or two. Take a full tour, and meet professors that could possibly be in your major or minor classes.

Take your time and don’t make a decision too quickly. Be sure that you have no regrets about your choice. Once you actually move in and start classes savor it and hang onto it as long as you can. Time doesn’t stop, and it will be gone before you know it with out any way to go back.

Always,

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