You should put a lot of serious thought into what college you will attend. This is a very monumental decision. You will be spending several years there—and what happens in its walls, and the direction you will take, will affect your life for decades to come. Make the wrong decision—follow a whim, or do it for the wrong reasons—and you will lose out on many opportunities, and waste many years.

Unfortunately people choose the university often with short-term goals in mind. For example, some decide to study in a college in a home town just so they can be near friends, or even worse, a boyfriend. The thought of leaving him behind seems more painful than risking the end of the relationship by going far away. However, even if the two of you are in love today, at the tender age of eighteen, it’s impossible to guess where the relationship will lead. There are many instances of couples breaking up in college simply because their personality or perspective of life evolves. They drift apart. They realize, even if they’re in the same town, or even the same course, that they are no longer compatible. That’s just the way life goes. That’s what growing up does to you. So don’t base your college choices on your romantic relationships. You don’t want to be tied down when you’re in college. Nor do you want to make any promises you’re not able to keep.

Others choose a college because it’s far away from home—“anywhere but here” they say. They feel that as long as they’re not in their parents’ home they can do anything they want. That may be true, but don’t see it as a license to party. Take your studies to heart. You should aim to get good grades, form solid business or career connections, and take full advantage of your education and the opportunities it presents.

And many make the mistake of choosing a college because other people said it was good. Maybe their parents went there, or the guidance counselor says that it had a good ranking. While those are factors in a choice, also look at the course you are taking, and your own learning style. Just because a school was good for other people doesn’t mean it will be good for you.

Before you enroll in any school, it’s advisable to take a tour of the campus to give you a first-hand idea of the atmosphere, environment and the type of classes offered. Photos can be deceptive, and any marketing brochure will hype the strengths of a school. To get an accurate picture, you’ve got to see if the reality meets your expectations—before you fork over your money, and your future.

Taking a campus tour can also give you the opportunity to talk to students, faculty members and administrators. You can ask them questions, and actually have a conversation about it, instead of the standard FAQS on a website. You can also ask for more detailed information about classes or courses. You may even be able to sit in a class!

However, it’s logistically impossible and very cost prohibitive to go on a campus tour of every college you’re “thinking” about joining. While you can apply to several schools, just visit those that you feel you have a) a high probability of being accepted, and b) would be happy to attend if given a chance. This means a lot of discernment and research even before you take your first step on to the campus. And actually, you can only get the best out of a campus tour if you have done this preliminary work. You wouldn’t know what features to ask about, or what questions to ask, if you didn’t have the background information on the school to begin with. You can get a lot of this data from the web or from your school guidance counselor.

If you feel stuck and don’t know what college you’d be most interested in—many students feel this initial sense of being overwhelmed, so don’t be embarrassed about that—then you have several options. The first one is to pick completely different schools, like a small community school, a sprawling university, just to get a clearer idea of what you’re most comfortable in. Or you could visit your guidance counselor to ask for her initial advice on the kind of learning style suited to your personality, and which schools excel in the area of study you’re most interested in.

For many people, choosing a college course, or even which college they should attend, is the first major decision that they will make on their own. For years they had been told what to do, following nationally mandated curriculums or obeying parents’ rules. Suddenly, they’re told that they not only can choose what they want, but that they have dozens, even hundreds, of options. That can be a pretty scary decision. Here are some ways to help you narrow down your list of colleges.

The first step you can take is…towards the library. Or even the biggest library in the world, the Internet. Find out as much as you can about a school’s history, the thrust of its curriculum, the number of people in each class, and the teaching methods it employs. You can also google for alumni of the school, or search for awards or citations that the school has received.

You can print the school’s materials (the web pages itself or any pdf documents it may have) or collect brochures from the library. Another great source of information is the school guidance counselor.
The second step is organizing the material. It’s much better to keep your information in one place, like an expandable folder or a box of folders. Assign one folder or divider per school, so that you have a handy reference point when you go on a campus tour.

The third step is to get a first hand, personal idea of how a school works. Remember that marketing materials are still geared towards “selling” the idea of going to a school. Naturally they would build the hype, and smooth over the negatives. And much of the information is simply too general—just because something works for another person, doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.

To get this complete picture, you should ideally go on a campus tour of the top three schools you feel that you are most likely to be accepted in, and which you can see yourself attending. And when you do go on the tour, don’t just passively wander around the school grounds. Do your best to meet as many people as you can, from teachers to janitors to the students sitting on the library steps.