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1. "My boyfriend/girlfriend is going there."
This is by far the worst reason, according to Dr. Janet Goebel, director of the Robert Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

"In 25 years of teaching college freshmen and coming to know most of my students well enough to also know their personal lives, I have known literally hundreds of students who come for romance. Out of those hundreds, I have known only two who actually ended up graduating still in that relationship," she says. "Most relationships don't survive the freshman year." Sad, but true!

2. How good (or bad) a college's athletic teams are.
The only exception to this rule, of course, is if you're a star athlete in search of an athletic scholarship. Otherwise, it's not important enough to base your entire academic game plan on. Besides, says William Brown, dean of admission and Financial aid at Lebanon Valley College (Annville, PA), "whole teams, and sometimes coaches, change every four years."

In other words, no one on the team you watch as a high school student will even be there by the time you're a senior.

3. The school has the cheapest tuition and/or the best financial aid package.
Sure, money is an important factor, says Dr. Edith Waldstein, vice president for enrollment management, associate professor of humanities, and registrar at Wartburg College (Waverly, IA), but it's not the only one. "Such a college may not be the right fit or the best education for you," she warns.

4. A College Search engine or guidebook says it's the right school for you.
"If a school looks like a good match on paper, you'll still want to visit to get a sense of life on campus," says Jennifer FitzPatrick, associate director of admissions at Allegheny College (Allegheny, PA). "Guidebooks [and the Internet] can only tell you so much."

5. The "feature" information trap
"Things such as volumes in the library, college size, and even location is feature information," explains Mike Williams, assistant vice president for admissions and financial aid at Harding University (Searcy, AK).

Those things are important, he says, but that's only the surface layer of the research. "Look for benefits instead! Ask 'What can this school do for me?' Placement information and other performance indicators are great to determine if the college can meet the platitudes mentioned in the viewbook."

6. "Major" confusion
Mike Frantz, dean of enrollment at Wilkes University (Wilkes-Barre, PA), gives an example of bad college-decision logic: "College X has the most majors, and since I'm undecided, I want to go where I'll have the most choice." You'll have to do more research than that!

7. "My best friend is enrolling there."
While going off to college with your high school pals may seem like a great idea, don't base your whole decision on someone else's aspirations, warns Chris Markle, director of admissions at Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, PA). Assert your independence.

"Many students find that selecting a school their high school friends are not attending is a good move," says Markle. "Students can enjoy a fresh start by selecting a school that isn't on everyone's hot list."

8. Good eats
"One student said he chose Wooster because he could have unlimited milk here," says Carol Wheatley, director of admissions at The College of Wooster (Wooster, OH). While that student may not have been totally serious (we hope!), Choosing a College based on its menu isn't too appetizing.

"While it can certainly be a factor in your choice, you should not choose a college based solely or primarily on such a factor," says Wheatley.


http://www.collegesurfing.com/blog
Dawn Papandrea is the Managing Editor of The CollegeBound Network. Learn more about finding a school that's right for you.

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