Many aspiring college students, while primarily interested in pursuing higher education and bettering their future, are also attracted to college for a number of otherwise superfluous reasons. The social environment, for example. That said, some students still honor the tradition and the prestige associated with the colleges they’re interested in. This prestige may have an impact on the way businesses view a potential resume as prestige is important for future job applications in some fields, especially where there is a significant amount of competition. When attempting to determine whether or not a school’s prestige matches your ethos, consider these questions: Do the alumni work in places you can be proud of? Does the college have top ranked degree programs you’re interested in? Are the athletic teams notable in their conferences? Is the college receiving enough grant funding for the research areas you’re interested in? Will the faculty match your learning expectations? As these institutions are known to have such high tuition and other associated costs, these are all valuable questions to ask and answer before committing to any option. While this line of questioning is a great foundation, there are more questions to ask before making any of the big college decisions. For more information on how to ready yourself for those decisions, please see the infographic highlighted alongside this post.

The Parent-Student Relationship In College Searches for more information on the college search process, be sure to check out the Encourage App