Students planning their college years are in a unique position to make their dreams come true. By identifying what is most important to them, they can easily narrow down their college search and then live the dream – at least for their college years!
If the passion is for golf, colleges and universities with highly rated courses include Yale, Ohio State, University of Georgia, Notre Dame, Duke and University of Maryland. If the dream is all about skiing and snowboarding, there are two colleges in the U.S. that actually own their own mountain: Middlebury College in Vermont and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
Students with a passion for the arts would be enthralled by options at Oberlin College in Ohio. One tradition, which originated in 1940, allows students to borrow original works of art for a semester from the impressive Allen Memorial Art Museum. If music is a passion, students have access to 240 Steinway grand pianos – including one in every residence hall.
Sometimes, food options are a determining factor. Realizing that campus food will form the major part of their diet for the next four years, students with dietary preferences or restrictions often take note of a school’s culinary options. Among the colleges with the highest food ranking are Virginia Tech, James Madison, Cornell, UCLA, Boston University, NYU, Duke and University of Pennsylvania.
Some schools offer a particular culinary attraction. University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the largest collegiate dining service program in the U.S., reportedly creates 4,000 sushi rolls each day. Food trucks abound at several Philadelphia institutions: Drexel, La Salle, Temple, and University of Pennsylvania. If the preference is fine dining, High Point University in North Carolina boasts of its “1924 Prime Steakhouse” where students can enjoy a weekly five-course meal in an upscale restaurant setting.
If it’s all about academics, students should consult College Board’s “Book of Majors.” Hundreds of college majors are listed alphabetically, each followed by a list of the schools that offer a degree in the field. Students interested in Entrepreneurial Studies, for example, would find a bachelor’s degree program at Babson College and Northeastern University in Massachusetts. Those with a passion for Animal Behavior might consider Franklin & Marshall College and Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. Historic Preservation is listed as a major at University of Delaware and University of Mary Washington in Virginia, and Medical Illustration is offered at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania and Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
Once students identify exactly what is important to them, a bit of research will provide a list of best-fit schools.
Susan Alaimo is the founder and director of Collegebound Review that, for the past 25 years, has offered PSAT/SAT® preparation and private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362
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