16 Things to Consider when School Searching

Now that you found some schools that have swim teams, let's check out some other criteria. When I was looking at schools it was important to me that the school offered my major, that it was on the east coast, and that it offered academic scholarships.

Here's a list of other important stuff to consider:

-    Location
-    Academic Scholarships
-    Financial Aid Packages
-    Cost of Attendance
-    Major  (accreditation if applicable)
-    Size of School
-    Admission Criteria
-    Class Size
-    Internship & Job Opportunities
-    Research Centers
-    Job Placement Rates
-    Career Services
-    Campus Facilities
-    Tutoring
-    Graduation Rate

Don't be overwhelmed! It's a long list, but you should prioritise what's important to you. I picked three main things to keep in mind when looking at a school and so should you.

Here's a sample of the Excel spreadsheet I used to keep all my facts straight:

A lot of people obsess over acceptance rates. Don’t. Imagine this scenario:

Last year 27,115 people applied to a university that supports 5,402 undergraduate students. Of those 27,000 people, about 1,700 are accepted. Thus creating an all-time low acceptance rate of 6.5%.  This is the scenario for the Class of 2015 at Princeton University.

Base your decision on the admissions standards rather than the acceptance rate.