Whether you’re just starting high school, or you’re close to finishing it up, it’s never too early to start thinking about where you want to be after graduation. The hard part of that is knowing where to even start this long and important process.

    There are lots of paths you can take after high school, and here are six that you can consider: a 4-year college or university, a 2-year community college, trade school/apprenticeship  programs, the military, going straight to the workforce, or taking a gap year. It’s okay to have no idea which one of these paths you want to take, but if you’re leaning towards a 4-year college or university, this quiz will give you some helpful guidance as to what college environment will be best for you. 

    There are a lot of things to consider when choosing a college, and here are nine of the most important ones. 

• Location and Distance From Home: You want to firstly consider what location you want to be in. A rural or urban area? A school in a large city? A school in a small town? You also need to think about how far from home you want to be. Do you want to be able to easily drive home, or do you want to be a flight’s distance away?
• Tuition, Fees, and Scholarships: For many, college choices can be limited because of tuition prices, so while it’s important to know exactly what tuition and fees will cost, it’s also good to know what scholarships you can qualify and apply for that could potentially bring out of budget colleges into your budget.
• School/Class Size: Even if a college checks all your boxes, you still want to think about class size. Class size is not referring to the amount of kids at a school, but rather how many kids will be in each class. You want to consider if you would like small, discussion-based classes where you can get to know your professors and classmates, or if you want big lecture classes with hundreds of students.
• Offered Majors and Minors: If you’re going into college with a decided major/minor, you want to choose a school that 1) offers this major/minor, and 2) has a good program for that specific major/minor. If you’re going into college undecided, you want to make sure the school has a good program for students with undecided majors/minors because you want to eventually choose a path.
• Athletics and Extracurricular Activities: For some, the most important thing in a school is the sports. Whether it’s having big football, or having a sport specific to you, athletics can be a major deal breaker when picking a school. Colleges also offer a variety of extracurriculars like music, sports, Greek life, and clubs, so make sure to do research on what things certain schools offer.
• Campus Life: School spirit and atmosphere can make or break a school. When looking into colleges, make sure to understand the lifestyle of the school. Consider things like how many students live on campus, what is there to do on weekends, what cities/towns are near the school, what is the level of student involvement, and what opportunities there are for first-year students.
• Academic Support and Career Opportunities: While college is usually very independent, there are still extra help sources like tutoring, professor office hours, writing centers, academic advising, and more. Colleges also prepare you for your future and life post college, so it’s smart to research what colleges offer for career centers, internships, job opportunities, and postgraduate schools.
• Safety: You want to make sure that there are on-campus safety policies as well as off-campus safety measures. It’s important that you feel safe on campus and in the surrounding areas. Make sure you know the safety record of local neighborhoods/cities/towns in addition to campus.
• Feeling/Perspective: Lastly, one of the most, if not the most important factor of a college is how you feel there. Even if a college checks all the boxes for you, if it doesn’t feel right, then it is probably not the right place for you. You want to pick a school that makes you feel at home, and where you can see yourself able to grow for the next four plus years.

    With all that being said, here is a short quiz based on the things above that can give you some idea of what will be best for you in college. 

1. What size college do you want?
   1. 10,000 to 20,000
   2. Less than 10,000
   3. Over 40,000
   4. 30,000 to 40,000
2. How important are sports in your college experience?
   1. Would like to have good sports, but they don’t have to be huge
   2. Don’t care to have sports
   3. Need huge big 10 sports 
   4. Would like to have big sports but not necessarily bit 10
3. How far from Virginia do you want to be?
   1. Want to stay in state
   2. Want to say in Virginia or in surrounding states
   3. Want to be in the Midwest
   4. Want to be along the west coast
4. What weather do you want?
   1. 4 seasons but mild winters and summers
   2. 4 seasons but snowy winters and hot summers
   3. Snowy, cold winters and hot, scorching summers
   4. Mostly year round sunny and hot
5. How specific do you want your major?
   1. Open to lots of majors/have some idea of what you want to do
   2. You’re fairly certain you know what your major is and you want a focus on that
   3. You generally know what you’re interested in, but care more about extra curricular activities and sports
   4. You want to major in a college of business or engineering
6. Do you want a city or small town?
   1. Small city area
   2. Small town area, very private
   3. Big city, lots of activity
   4. Highly populated large city with tourists
7. How far do you want to travel?
   1. Couple hour car ride
   2. Short car ride, around an hour
   3. Can drive in a day or fly
   4. Couple days drive or fly
8. Class size and relationships
   1. You might know a few people from home, might not know your professors to well
   2. You should know some people from home, you can get to know your professors
   3. Likely won’t know people from hometown, unlikely you’ll get know professors
   4. Won’t know people from home, can get to know your professors

    If you had mostly A answers, James Madison University (JMU) would be a great college for you. Other colleges like this one include George Mason, Christopher Newport, University of Delaware, Elon, West Virginia, and University of Richmond. You likely want to stay close to Virginia and attend a medium sized school that offers decent sports and extracurricular activities, and also has good scholarship opportunities. 

    If you had mostly B answers, Washington and Lee would be a great college for you. You want to attend a small, semi local college where you’ll get to know your community and school very well. Other colleges like this one include Marymount, Shenandoah, Amherst College, Haverford College, and Lafayette College . 

    If you had mostly C answers, The Ohio State would be a great college for you. You want a big school that thrives in sports and athletics, but is also selective and has strong academics. Other colleges like this one include Oregon, Penn State, Michigan, Tennessee, Miami (FL), Clemson, and Alabama. 

    If you had mostly D answers, Purdue University would be a great college for you. Other colleges like this one include Santa Clara, UC Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University, Wisconsin-Madison, and Illinois Urbana-Champaign. You probably want to attend a college that is far from home and in a completely new setting than what you grew up with. You want to either be near the coast, or in the mountains.