Applications.  College visits.  Expenses.  Getting accepted.  Deciding on a major.  They all add up to a stressful time in a high school student’s senior year.  And no time is more stressful than the fall, when decisions must be made about where to apply for college and what to study.

Middletown High School guidance counselor Paula Langley said that some of the most important things to consider when choosing a college are the atmosphere, the size, and the affordability.

“First, determine what type of atmosphere you want to be in: small town or city,” Langley said.

Many things go under the term atmosphere. Students should have a certain distance in which they feel comfortable going, and look at schools within that range.

The social atmosphere is also a very important factor. For example, some students feel more comfortable in schools that have a variety of clubs, Division 1 sports and Greek life, while others students would prefer schools with a smaller campus, as well as class sizes.

“Extracurricular activities are important, too,” Langley said. “Almost all colleges have everything now; they have tons of clubs.  It depends on how much you like sports.  If you like going to sporting events, then you should pick a school that has sporting events.”

Langley said it’s important for students to figure out what they want to major in and look into schools that offer that field of study.

Students who are unsure of what to major in should choose a school that’s large enough so they will have several options. Keeping that in mind, Langley said, the magic number of schools to apply to is five and no more than seven.

“You should have it narrowed down more,” she said. “I think sometimes students apply to colleges just to see if they can get in some places, so they’re not real serious about going certain places.”

Langley said students should only apply to schools that are manageable for them and their family.

“You need to pick places that your family can afford,” she said, “so I think your focus should be narrowed down enough that you can come up with five.”

College visits are an important part of the process, too, she said.

“You can’t just choose from reading about it in a book,” Langley said. “It’s really important to visit.”

Langley said students should check out different websites such as college board or bigfuture.org to compare and narrow down their search.

“You can put in the size of the school, the environment you want to be in, whether or not they have a major, things like that,” she said.

Applications.  College visits.  Expenses.  Getting accepted.  Deciding on a major.  None of these things needs to be stressful if students follow Langley’s advice.