how did you all decide what college to go to? ?

My mother wanted me in a small private University and I went. It had my degree, perfect class sizes although some classes did have 50-70 students, my classes were generally 20-40 students and I could always see my adviser.

In the US.

For my daughter.  We knew she want to stay with in a six hour drive from home.

I took her on her first college visit sophomore year. That gave her a better idea on what a campus is like. We meet with admissions and the head of the department for both majors she wanted. That gave her a much better idea of what to look for.

She knew she didn’t want to live in a big major city.

She researched schools within her drive time for the majors she was interested in. That narrowed it down significantly 

She had a high GPA and ACT score. So most schools were in her reach. She found that many schools had Honors college. So she researched those. Check to see with your GPA and ACT/SAt what chance you have of getting in.

We visited nine universities in total. Made a huge difference to her. Once university that was absolutely perfect on a paper, she didn’t like at all when we visited. Good school, just not for her.

She knew she wanted a medium to small school.she knew she wanted to be in Honors college. She knew she wanted to be with in a  five hour drive from home.

After applying and being accepted to all schools she applied to, it came down to what financial aid package she got. Her second pick gave her a half tuition 4 year scholarship. And they had a brand new Honors college dorm. Her top pick we couldn’t afford. 

I visited several schools, and applied to the ones that offered what I was interested in and had campuses that appealed to me.  I ultimately chose the school that gave me the most financial aid because I was paying for school myself. I was going to have to take out loans, and I wanted to take out as little as possible.  It ended up being $8,000 total for my undergraduate, which wasn't bad at all. 

I chose a technical college because the tuition fee is not expensive and you get what you payed for—meaning that you don't have to sacrifice your life digging money. The instructors are amazing, classes are only four hours, and high-likely of employment.

However, You get an associate degree, a certificate, or a license since technical college focus on small careers such as medical office administration. In my opinion, it's better with something than no college degree, right?

I got a terrible ACT and SAT scores, but technical college still accepted me if you're wondering. Hope this helps, friend.

There were no discounted application fees when I applied to college. Like most people I knew, I applied to three schools -- a reach, a match and a safety. The reach was my dream school, but I didn't get in. (One of my best friends heard me talking about the school and also applied. I had better test scores, but she was class valedictorian and they chose her.) I was accepted to the other two schools and chose my match school because it was smaller, friendlier and had a couple of programs that were very appealing. I was crushed at time not to get into that particular school, but the school I attended was actually a better fit for me. It also provided generous financial aid. The financial aid was a factor for many of us who chose that school because it made our education cheaper than a state university.