You choose depending on your major and career goals. Some colleges have better major departments than others, even among the top private Ivy League schools. For instance, if you want to be an attorney, the Harvard Law is tops. But if you want to be an engineer, choose MIT over Harvard. If you want to be a doctor, choose Stanford. These are extreme examples, but you get the pictures. There are books and web sites that will rate different majors and different departments within colleges and universities.

Once you decide on a major, then you look at admission requirements. Do you have what it takes to get in? If not, then it doesn’t matter how good the school is. Then look at cost. Can you afford a private school? The cost of a private school is going to run you $30-$50,000 a year if you include tuition, room, board, books, and transportation to and from home for visits. Your local state college will cost you about 1/5 of that. You might want the best, you might have the qualifications for acceptance, but if you can’t afford it, the reality is that you’ll have to go public.

Last of all consider location and atmosphere. If you don’t like big schools, big cities or the urban life, then MIT is not for you–try RIT or VA Tech. All good schools, but with a very different feeling to the campuses. Also, consider how close to home and family you want to be, and how often you want to go home. If you like to bop home for your sister’s dance recital and grandpa’s 90th birthday, then you don’t want to be 3,000 miles away.

Lots to consider. Good luck.

Write out your personal goals. Rather than go by whether a place this or that pick out the top four or five places.

Put your name in to them to save a place. But also pick about three weeks or 21 days go down to the bus depot and purchase a continental bus pass then plan an itinerary to visit each one.

This may cost almost a thousand bucks but remember your education will cost tens of thousands and take years. You should go to each location and like a car kick the tires. If the school wants you they will show you the features if they ignore you then you just ignore them.

Good luck on this.

community faculties are 2-365 days faculties. Public faculties are 4-365 days faculties (and public universities furnish 4-365 days (bachelors) levels, masters, JD, MD, PhD, etc). Public faculties tend to be greater fee-effective (exceedingly in case you reside in that state) and tend to be universities, which furnish greater majors and directions than inner maximum faculties, which tend to be smaller and greater high priced. There are some amazing inner maximum faculties (all the ivies, as an occasion) and a few amazing public faculties (Berkeley, UT Austin, U Washington, Purdue, etc). this is as much as you the place you want to pass. No vast distinction right that’s ‘greater effective’ than yet another.

How much money you have to spend (private are generally three times more than resident public and twice non-resident public, we’re talking $15K/25K vs $50K per year) and what the school has to offer.

It’s awfully hard to beat Harvard or Yale or Stanford or Loyola, but in some areas UCLA gives them a run for their money.

If you can afford it or not. Private colleges are nice…but the price sure isn’t.

It depends on you.Public universities will be best.