COMPAREcollege compisons

My name is Nichole.I plan on studying Law Enforcement atIndiana State University and pursuing a career as a police officer in my community.

Digging InHave you ever gone shopping for a new pair of blue jeans? It’s a strange experience, actually. You can grab five or six pairs that are the same size, but different brands, and you’ll find that one pair just fits better than any of the others. If you had gone in and bought the first pair you tried on, you’d have never known there was a better fit out there. This scenario can ring true of many things in life, and college is no exception.

It’d be nice if we could slip in, pull the curtain shut and try on different colleges in a little fitting room. Unfortunately, the process of finding the right college fit is not so simple.

Of course, you could visit the website of each college in the State of Indiana, do an exhaustive search of their programs and see what comes up. As you may guess, this process could take you days and you still might not find exactly what you are look-ing for. Luckily, the folks at Learn More Indiana have done much of the heavy lifting for you with a tool on their website designed to help students identify the programs offered by Indiana colleges and universi-ties.

Visit the Learn More indiana CoLLege PrograM searCh Page at: intoolkit.com/indianacollegeprograms

Make a list of the Indiana colleges and universities that offer programs that offer programs that will position you to

enter a career field that interests you. Hang on to your list. You’ll be using it in the next steps.

>> QUICK TASK

College Fit List

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COMPAREcollege comparisons

THERE ARE MANY FACTORS YOU SHOULDCONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A COLLEGE. Even with a list of colleges offering programs in your selected career field, there is a lot more to know before you will be able to select the right school for you. One important factor to consider is the location of each college and its relationship to where you call home right now.

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ConnectionsFollowing the link to the right, you will find a link to a map that plots nearly every college and university in Indiana. Start by finding the approximate location of your current high school. Then, use the list on the left of the webpage to identify the location of the colleges on your list. Keep track of which is the closest to your current home and which is the furthest. Once you have located all of the colleges on your list, reorder that list so it starts with the closest school and ends with the furthest away.

Map your college list at: http://intoolkit.com/ incollegemap and reorder the list onthe chart below from closest to farthest .

ONE SPECIAL NOTE: If Ivy Tech Community College is one of the schools on your list, it is important to note that it has campuses around the state, and not every campus offers every program. A map of Ivy Tech’s regional campuses can be found at ivytech.edu/maps/campus-map-8.14.pdf, and you can discover which Ivy Tech programs are available at a specific campus at ivytech.edu/programs-a-z/index.html

The Big PicturePerhaps you think location won’t be a big factor for you as you choose a college. You may be right. Still, it’s important to remember that choosing a college campus that is near your home can offer more than simply keeping you close to your friends and family. In some cases, going to college close to home offers an opportunity to commute, which in turn eliminates housing costs. Make sure that if one of the schools on your list is a nearby campus that you would commute to, you list the housing costs as $0 as you work through identifying college costs below.

In addition to housing costs, you will also be taking a look at the cost of tuition. Much like housing costs, tuition will make up a large portion of the total cost of your college bill. Write the tuition costs for the colleges you’ve listed on the lines below.

When looking at students enrollment numbers, you have to know a little bit about yourself and your preferences. Do you feel like you’d be more likely to succeed at a larger school with more students, or a smaller school with much fewer? Both options have their benefits.

In ranking schools based upon this measurement, think for a moment whether you think a larger school or smaller school is right for you. If you prefer a larger school, start with the highest student enrollment number and work down from there. If a smaller school is more appealing to you, begin with the lowest student enrollment number.

You could spend a lot of time with an internet search, but there’s a web tool that will simplify your search. Below you will find a link to this tool, the Indiana College Info at a Glance table. Download this document and use it to rank the colleges on your list.

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College Comparison Chartcollege/university (listed closest to farthest) housing cost tuition cost enrollment number

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Into ActionYou’ve ranked the colleges on your list according to a number of measurements. Now it is time to tally up the scores and do one final reordering that takes into consideration all of the factors you’ve investigated. Which college received the most No. 1 rankings? Which one earned the most No. 2 spots? Tally these results and list the final rankings on the lines to the far right on your College Comparison Chart.

What you now have represents your first look into which colleges might be a good fit for you. The college that you have listed as No. 1 on this final list might very well be the best fit for you. Then again, it may not be. The truth is that looking at the numbers is a VERY important part of the college comparison process, but there’s also one more factor that is a little more difficult to measure on a chart. This factor is your own, personal connection with the college.

At this point, you may or may not have any particular feelings about the colleges on your list. Regardless, it’s a good idea to dig a little deeper and get a feeling for the atmosphere and general personality of colleges that you are interested in. One way to do this is through a virtual tour.

A virtual tour is an online experience that many colleges offer to give prospective students a chance to explore the campus and learn more about what the school has to offer. Follow the link below to access the Virtual Tours of Indiana Colleges page to experience an online visit to one or all of the colleges on your list.

Make It YoursThrough the previous activities, it’s likely that one or more colleges have begun generating a little bit of extra interest for you. So far this process had been fairly one-sided, so it’s a good idea to reach out and engage with someone at one or more of the colleges you are interested in.

So often it feels as though colleges simply aren’t concerned with high school students until they are seniors. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, colleges would love to begin building a relationship with you early, and they can help provide you with additional information and answer questions as you continue to compare colleges and decide upon the best fit.

You may have noticed that on the Virtual Tours of Indiana Colleges webpage that, in addition to the virtual tour link, we also provided a link to the college or university’s admissions webpage. Pull up this list again and click through to the admissions page for the school you are looking at. Once there, locate a contact phone number.

This phone number will put you in touch with someone in the college’s admissions department. When you make your call, keep your message brief and clear:

The representative with whom you are speaking will probably understand right away that you are requesting informational materials to either be mailed or emailed to you. They will ask for a home or email address, and you will receive your materials shortly. You may even be connected to an admissions counselor who will continue to be your contact person for questions and requests moving forward. Make sure you are prepared to take notes so that you can collect information you may need to keep..

“Hello. My name is ____________. I am currently a sophomore in high school. I have been looking the possibility of attending your school and was wondering if I could get some general information, along with some specifics about the ____________ program.”