Location
Where should I go to college? It’s the first major decision of your life. Let’s try to make it one of the simplest decisions, shall we? When deciding on where to attend college, students and parents should visit the location and check-out the campus. Whether you live and/or work on-campus or off-campus, college students should take precautions to ensure their safety.
Choosing a Location
Why are you going? To answer these questions, think about the overall college experience that you’d like to have and what that may include like fraternities, internships or type of degree. Narrow it down, make a short list. Should you choose a small, local community college or a large, public university? (*4) Does size matter? When choosing a college, the size should matter. It needs to fit into your learning style and your lifestyle. (*5)
Living arrangements
You do need to think about your living arrangements when you think about where you want to go to college. Do you want to live on-campus or off-campus, alone or with a roommate? Are you moving away from your family to go to college? Some universities require that you live on-campus when you first start your college life; knowing this may help or hinder where you choose to locate or relocate. Universities want to ensure that you start off with a strong successful focus, hence the meaning of college life.
Have you applied?
Have you been accepted? After deciding where you want to go to college, you need to apply and be accepted. Most of the community colleges or smaller colleges will openly accept applications, but they may require that you take specific classes based on your GPA or college entrance exams. The larger universities and private colleges do not accept all applications. There are application fees associated with colleges so make your choice prior to applying.
Consider your wants and needs by prioritizing your list. Narrow your choices down to your top three. You can do this in seven steps.
- Step 1 – Location: Are you staying close to home or venturing out? Decide where you’d like to go to college but remember if you choose to go out of state your tuition costs will increase since you will be an out-of-state student.
- Step 2 – Major: What is your end goal? Decide on a major and choose the best college for your return on your degree. If your looking to go into research, then Texas A&M AgriLife Research department is ranked #4 and Texas A&M, College Station, TX is ranked #8.
- Step 3 – Money: Who is financially responsible for your education and how will you pay for it? If your parents are helping you financially then you will need to discuss tuition costs with them. If you are financially responsible, then you will need to know how much you want to pay for college once you have completed your degree. How much debt do you want to graduate with? The cost each semester will continue to add to the ending balance. If you have all costs paid for by grants and scholarships, then consider yourself very fortunate. Other than buying a house, this will be one of the biggest expenses of your life. BestColleges states that the average college student will graduate with a loan debt average of $29,400. They have ranked Texas A&M, College Station, TX as #11 and University of Texas, Richardson, TX #49 for having one of the best ROI (returns on investments); meaning that their income is large enough to pay-off their college debt in approximately 10 years.
Visit the campuses
Ranked as one of the top 100 most beautiful campuses is Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX coming in at #60. The Niche ranked Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX as the #16 best campus based on its unique social and academic culture.
Know your end goals
At Texas A&M after graduation, their college students earn an average yearly salary of $51,900 with the most lucrative degree as a petroleum engineer with an average yearly salary of $109,000.
Is college ranking a must for you?
The Niche ranked 25 of the top colleges in Texas. Four of these top colleges are located in the Dallas area. Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX ranked #2 in the state of Texas. Here you’ll find over 100 areas of study, a vibrant, active campus, renovated residence halls and a diverse background of culture where staff and students thrive on respect. Ranked #5 is Dallas Baptist University (DBU). Its acceptance rate is 39% based on test scores and high school grade point average. This is a small campus with an enrollment number of less than 2,500 students along with 91% of students living on campus. Ranked #11 is University of North Texas, Denton, TX; its enrollment is just upwards of 25,000 students and acceptance rate is 72%. Ranked #12 is Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. A highly rated, large, public university with an enrollment of 46,000 plus students and an acceptance rate of 71%.
Compare financial aid
Let’s start the Niche’s top-ranking universities. Looking at the college student’s debt at the end of the year, could be a deciding factor. The average cost of tuition per year minus the average awarded financial aid leaving a college student with an average debt of per year.
| College and Rank | Tuition cost per year | Avg. award per year | Avg. debt per year | Avg. debt for four years |
| #2 TCU | $35,363 | $24,864 | $10,500 | $42,000 |
| #5 DBU | $25,693 | $12,111 | $13,582 | $54,328 |
| #11 UNT | $12,053 | $10,638 | $1,415 | $5,660 |
| #12 Texas A&M | $19,554 | $8,748 | $10,806 | $43,224 |
Choosing Dallas, Tx
Why should a college student choose the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX area? Reason number one is Dallas is the 3rd in the US for highest salaries. Reason number two is it’s ranked tenth by Forbes Magazine for “Best Places for Business and Careers.” And reason number three is it’s a billionaire attraction. These are three fantastic reasons to attend a highly ranked university in this area.
Growing job market
The Dallas, TX area is also the fastest growing job market in the country according to the US Bureau of Statistics. This area has added 100,400 jobs within its vicinity. Welcome to one of the most thriving metropolis in the US.
Easy to get around
The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) offers a DART Student GoPass which is free to eligible students. This pass encompasses the DCCCD, Dallas County Community College District, which includes 12 campuses. DART also offers the Trinity Railway Express (TRE), DART Green Line Rail service and Dart On-Call which is a curb-to-curb service. There are multiple taxis, cabs and ubers that may be called or hailed in from the streets.
Tax Breaks
You don’t pay state or local income taxes in Texas. Forego paying taxes in the friendly Lone Star State, it is one of seven US states that does not require residents to pay or file a state return, in other words, they do not withhold taxes out of your paycheck. You do, however, pay taxes when you make purchases.
Plenty of Choice
The Dallas-Fort Worth area boasts of 105 colleges and 26 universities. Here you have so many options for excellent college opportunities. Why would you want to go anywhere else?
You’ll never be at a loss for something to do, Dallas, TX has plenty of social entertainment. One must experience the Big D by visiting the downtown West End Historic District in Dallas area. It is a site to behold, this 67.5-acre area surrounds itself with southern charm and an eclectic atmosphere. Not only are there historic hotels, shops and museums there is also the Dallas World Aquarium and the John F. Kennedy Memorial.
For some people choosing a location isn’t a big decision because they’ve made up their mind in their early years. For these people, they may be following family traditions such as alma-maters, fraternities or sororities. As for others, their lives may already be pre-determined by marriage and living situations. So, for those of you that can decide on where you are going to go to college make the best decision based on your best life end result.