 What's happening it's your boy Nick check coming back at y'all with a new video today. We're talking about how to pick a college Essentially the past few months all these college videos that I've been making and helping you guys along this journey They kind of culminate to this one decision essentially picking the next four years of where you're gonna spend your life What you're gonna study who you're gonna meet potential jobs alumni connections everything like that is Based on what college you decide to go to whether it's a local community college a state school an Ivy League internationally whatever University you decide to end up at that's a huge Life decision that it's definitely gonna need some reflection and it shouldn't be any sort of rash decision So today I thought I'd give you guys just some tips and my personal Story about how I chose my school and ended up where I am today I think with picking a college the first inform is my hair, so you know I think the first and foremost important aspect is it has to be the right and best Fit for you not for anyone else not for your mom not for your dad Not for your best friend or girlfriend who's going to that school has to be for you and yourself and nobody else Sure, it's great if you're a triple legacy at UC Berkeley and your entire family went there and you've been wearing that gear since The day you were born, I mean that's great and all but if you get on campus and it's not the right fit for you Then you shouldn't be attending that school just because your whole family's been there at the end of the day This is the decision. That's not impacting anyone else, but yourself It's up to you because you're the one that put in the work No one was writing those essays for you No one was submitting those applications Surely people might have helped you and coached you along the way But no one should have a final say in what college do you decide to go to? When I say it has to be the right fit for you It has to meet some certain criteria that you should be Setting up for yourself Obviously if ranking is important to you then go to a school that is ranked Well, or if you're looking for the best pre-med or engineering programs find schools that have the best majors in that field If you just want to be in New York look at all the schools in New York City Whatever criteria and variables are important to you and will factor into what will make you the happiest in college It should be the criteria you look at when deciding to choose a college It's very intuitive But I feel like people just get so caught up because they're so focused on the name brand Oh, or the National U.S. College rankings or the football teams or the frats or the parties like get rid of all that Bullshit and focus on what matters to you in 20 years No one's gonna be thinking back to oh Those parties are the things I remember the most about college I don't pick a school because it has a good party scene or as hot girl No one's gonna care about that what's gonna matter and what's gonna be the most impactful or the Professors you worked with or the students you met or your best friends that you made throughout college Those factors should take precedence over any other variables. All right The next best thing to do is obviously visit the campus if you haven't already The only way you're gonna get the real feel for what College is gonna be the best fit for you is if you step foot on that campus If you do a college tour if you talk to the people and visit the buildings That's the only way it's hard to tell via the interweb or pictures or even through videos It's still hard, you know if it's close obviously road trip to it if you can afford a flight That's optimal and you know go on one of those organized tours The biggest thing is ask a lot of questions on your tour to like pressure them see see if you can stump them up Don't just ask about like basic house. How are the parties blah blah blah, you know ask What what's the one-to-one ratio with students to faculty what facilities are offered for undergraduate students? What makes this school different than XYZ school like really try and challenge your tour guide because like I applied to be a tour guide I didn't get it here. Whatever. It's not that I'm salty It's just that tour guides are repeat the same information every tour And so in order to get the most out of that specific tour You should be challenging them asking them questions that they aren't ready for because that's gonna give you the most insight Whether it's you know, what are the most difficulties that you face as a student at Princeton or How are first-generation low-income students dealing with adversity on campus? Just questions that are really gonna make them stop and think are gonna get you the best answers Another thing is utilize online free resources I've noticed that a lot of schools now have virtual online tours for students who can't fly out So go check that out see if you can do like a flyover tour and see the different buildings It's hard to get an actual feel for it, but it's better than nothing another great option is watch YouTube videos I'm sure people who want to apply to Princeton search up Princeton University and you know my videos the first one to pop up They see me a day in my life I kind of show you my dorm what my social scene is like how I vlog it And that's kind of the best way to get a feel for what a student like yourself could be The biggest thing is you want to imagine yourself in the shoes of someone else for the next four years And I think it's so hard because there aren't many college vloggers out there who do it well Consistently and high quality besides me That's totally a joke sarcasm if you're any other college youtuber and I don't know about leaving it down below I'll check them out another huge thing is talk to the students on campus That's gonna be the best indicator for what student life is going to be like because they're the actual students that attend that school They make up the population of the undergraduate students Those are the people you're gonna be spending the most time with if they're rude not helpful Unkind when you have your first interaction with them that might be an indicator that the school might not be the best fit for you If you ask one, hey, can I get directions to this specific building? And they're very helpful. They you know walk with you along the way. Oh, are you perspective student? Yeah, do you have any questions like how can I help you if those are the type of people you're meeting on your Tours and you're gonna be a lot happier going to schools where you feel more Friendly vibes people who Are more conducive to you learning becoming a better person and a better human And then another thing that I think is very obvious But not enough people do is researching your school Something that I didn't do very well and wish I would have taken advantage more is use the internet to find out about your schools Like don't just think that oh because it's Princeton or it's Harvard. Everything is fine and dandy like there's a lot of underlying problems institutionally with our Schools that don't get talked about in the public press. You have to do some really deep research I mean a few months ago. We've had professors that have been accused of sexual misconduct On campus and like that's crazy. It blows your mind You think that this is such a great institution like nothing bad should ever happen But shit does happen and it's not always very positive. It just doesn't get published in the media Unless you're on campus and you hear about this stuff So, you know, definitely do a lot of research look into whatever programs or majors that you're implying to make sure that it's Top notch in that field if it has like a bad English department Then go to a school that has a good English department If it has the best engineering department then go to the school that has the best engineering department Like it's very intuitive. It's very simple But you know, not enough people realize how easy it can be Also, definitely look at the financial aid packages that you're given Really weigh the pros and cons of a school that will give you a full ride versus a school that may not give you so much and Decide whether that money is going to be a big enough factor to influence your decision because money is money and College is expensive like no doubt about it. But if a school is willing to give you generous Financial aid package, definitely keep that in consideration Also, this is kind of a counterpoint to what I said earlier about choosing a school that has the best major But to be honest, a lot of you guys have no idea what you want to major and I don't even know what I want to do A lot of my friends came in thinking they're one thing but ended up switching to something completely different So don't be so headfast on just this one specific major Be open to a lot of new ideas and with that being said like look into colleges that are really great overall Like have a good liberal arts education So you have a wide variety of knowledge rather than just the best engineering program But has really shitty other programs because that's going to be a very ineffective and not balanced Education my last kind of tip is just be very open-minded especially when you're visiting this schools Don't have any prejudices or stereotypes about what you've heard or what you've seen about this school or whatever Because that's going to limit how you can really see yourself on on that specific campus Going with an open mind because who knows the school that was on the bottom of your list You could step on campus and have a completely different feel for it and it could end up being your your favorite top school At the end of the day this decision is for you and nobody else Don't your family or your friends or your teachers influence you like as great as it is to get their opinions And I highly recommend asking them. Hey, I'm debating between school x school y these are the pros These are the cons. What do you think? Can you help me make this decision and as important as their advice and Opinions are at the end of the day. It's up to you No one can make that choice for you because it's four years of your life That's an incredibly long time to be at one university You especially don't want to be the case where you get to a school You end up not liking it and then having to transfer a year or two out That's just a whole process that takes a lot of time and it's kind of a waste like you should have No doubts whatsoever about this being your first school and after all this advice You're still second guessing yourself or having doubts. I don't know flip a coin Let destiny do its work Obviously take that with a grain of salt if you guys are flipping coins to actually choose your college decision Good luck to you. I don't know what to say Yeah, those are the best tips and advice that I can think of off the top of my head All right, that's it for this video Make sure you guys hit that like button subscribe if you haven't already leave comments for any other videos And I'll see you guys next time