Category: College/University >> Application Process
Tagged: USA
Created: Jul 09, 2008 at 11:44 am
Read by: 10 users
For me some of the most important characteristics a school should have are the following, and I will tell you why too:
1.Location: In choosing a university not only must you keep in mind attending an institution with a good level of education, but you must also keep in mind that the place at where you attend college will become home for the next four years. You must be comfortable with the environment in which you live in order to be able to focus and perform well academically. If you love big cities but end up going to a university in a rural setting you may end up complaining for the next four years and will not take as much out of the experience as you should. Likewise you may want to go to a particular place so badly that you disregard the chance of better education at another location. Remember that you must find a balance between location and the quality of education you will find. Often great universities such as Yale may pride themselves in academic excellence but be located in a sketchy sometimes-dangerous neighborhood. For choosing a location make sure you assess the aspects you value more, education or setting.
2. School Size: For me school size is of great importance and also requires you to make a decision based on what you value the most. If you choose a large school that can have 20,000 students you are sure to find a very big campus with many facilities at your disposal as well as varied choices in majors and courses. However, class sizes will obviously be larger, easier for those average student to get lost in the crowd, professors might be less accessible and flexible, and in my opinion this forces international students to adapt very fast to living in the US and the whole experience might be a lot more overwhelming. In a smaller school for instance, facilities may not be as large and varied and majors and courses may not provide as much room for choices as would a large university. But, class sizes will be smaller allowing students to stand out more and receive more 1on1 attention from the professors, who are more likely to be accessible and flexible having smaller class sizes to deal with. And finally in my opinion a smaller school allows you to meet and establish friendships with more people because you will actually see them on campus a lot rather that meeting a million faces you wont remember later.
3. International Student Population: When I decided to come to the US to receive an education, finding a school that welcomed and contained a community of international students was of crucial importance to me. All my life I had been exposed to education among students from all over the world and as a result I learned to treasure the academic and personal advantages of having more than one viewpoint in a classroom setting. I did not want to lose this after High School and wanted to keep it that way as long as possible. Currently I attend a school with 8% international students, but since it is a small school you can easily see who the internationals are and be able to establish friendships with them as well. Be careful though in looking for an international student community abroad to not fall into the international click because then you would be missing out on actually knowing what life in the U.S. and its people are really like.
