So, You Got into College — Now What?

Last week, I read about a remarkable Diamond Ranch student, senior , who not only got into college, but got into every college that he applied to!

And the colleges he got into are no slouches either. Roberto got into Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, NYU and Amherst. Most students would kill just for one of those opportunities, but now he has to pick between all of them.

And that got me thinking. Obviously, we don't all have the same breadth of selection as Mr. Perez does, but students every year are forced to pick between the schools they get into. After all, they can only go to one of them!

When making that choice, there are a couple of things to consider.

The first among these should always be academics.

It's the reason you're going to college in the first place, right? The quality of education that you receive at school is of the highest priority. However, that doesn't mean that you should just whip out a copy of the US News and World Report college rankings and pick the highest ranked one you get into (save that for law school).

No, the academics of the college is about so much more than just their US News ranking number. It's about the programs as well.

For example, if you want to be a musician, where would you rather go? New York University's Tisch School of Music, or San Diego State? If you wanted to be a biologist would you rather go to UC Davis or UC Irvine?

Bear in mind that all of the schools I just mentioned are great schools overall, and all have earned places on US News and World Report's Best Colleges list.

The point I am trying to make is that you must look beyond the school's overall ranking and considering the strength and reputation of the specific program that you are enrolling in.

This may or may not be a moot point later, as most college students change majors at least once during college, but can be a great way to help narrow down your options.

Another factor to consider is the happiness of the students. When you go to college, the experience is much more than just what you get in the classroom.

Your access to decent campus food (much harder than you might realize), sunshine, and campus clubs can all affect how content you are at your school. Of course, the only way to really figure out if a school is going to make you happy or not is to actually visit the campus in question.

But short of that, a couple years ago The Daily Beast put together a fascinating list of what the consider to be the “100 Happiest Colleges”. They ranked campuses all across the country based on amount of student debt, sunny days, campus food, night life, campus activities, and several other criteria.

It's a great way to get a preliminary understanding of some of those campus statistics that US News doesn't cover, yet are vitally important to your emotional and physical health and well being.

It's worth noting that Southern California has the greatest concentration of happy schools in the Daily Beast Rankings. Claremont McKenna, Pomona College, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, and Cal Tech are all in the top 10.

UCLA and UC Irvine are in the top 20 and UC Davis, UCSB, and Pitzer are in the top 30. It probably has something to do with all the sunshine we get!

Getting back to more quantifiable selection criteria, cost and student aid should also play a major role in the college decision process.

Public schools almost always cost less than private schools, given that you are resident of that state.

This means that attending in-state schools such as UC Berkeley or UCLA may give the same quality education as Georgetown or New York University, and at a fraction of the cost per year.

There's also student aid to consider. Graduating college with as little debt as possible is a big deal, and can help you in both the short term and long term. In the short term, it provides you with more money to start off your career, and in the long term it means that you will be paying thousands of dollars less in loan repayment and interest.

Schools offer both merit- and need-based money, collectively called a "financial package," and you would be well-advised to seriously consider schools who are giving you more money.

Overall, picking a college is a holistic process that is a combination of all the factors that I just mentioned and several others that may depend on your personality and preferences.

In the end, it's really about picking the school that best fits you. So, before you choose, sit down take some time to think about you want before tackling the process of weighing all of the individual pros and cons.

Don't neglect anything, and be sure to visit the campuses that you are considering! Good luck!