The Place I Will Be In Debt To For The Next 15 Years

     It's that time. The time when juniors in high school start searching for places called "Colleges", where they will ultimately dump all their parents money into education, and booze. Come on, they don't call it the "Freshmen Fifteen" for nothing.
    In reality, searching for a college  is extremely hard. Unless your family has an unlimited amount of money to spend on your college education, and your drinking habits, then trying to find that one place that you want to attend, and you can afford,  is like trying to find The Lost City of Atlantis. Every time you look up a college, it fits a couple of your criteria, but either they don't have the program you want to join, or it's gunna cost your parents a limb and all their kidneys for you to attend.
     Where do I start? You start with picking what you want to do the most for your future career.  When I started searching for colleges, I thought I wanted to acquire my Airframe & Power plant certification, but after some searching around, I couldn't find any good four year schools for it. So, I upped the anti to mechanical engineering. With this I can fix anything, as well as build new things (not to mention get paid bank for it). This change in direction opened up a plethora of new schools that I can pick from. Now, every time I look at a new school, I make sure that they have a reputable mechanical engineering program. If not, then it's not the college for me.
     The next step in finding the perfect college is making sure it's within your budget, that's respective to your career choice. Don't expect to become a dentist, and not have to pay up the wazoo for it.  Make sure that your budget is reasonable, but flexible. Remember, you can always apply for scholarships and financial aid. This budget ensures that you don't bankrupt your parents, and yourself for the next 15 years.
     The next question to answer is, " Does this college have extracurricular activities that I would like to participate in?" Many colleges flaunt the number of clubs and activities they have, but this means nothing unless they have the clubs and activities that you want to do. Participating in some sort of sport or club in college is essential to making new friends, and ensuring that you get outside and experience new things. Most colleges have outdoor sports, intramural sports, and many clubs that you can offer. Even though making sure that the college has the right type of curriculum for you is most important, you'll be miserable if you have no life outside of your academics.
     One thing that is very important is accreditation. You may have thought that you found the perfect school, but after one year you absolutely hate the place. This is where accreditation comes in. Being an accredited college means that your credits are recognized in other schools. If you want to transfer schools then you need to transfer your credits. If your school isn't accredited, then you can't transfer those credits, and you will need to start all over. Hopefully, you don't need to transfer schools, but it's always a good idea to check, because it's always better to be safe than sorry.
     College is always hard to think about when you're a junior in high school, but time goes by fast, and before you know it you'll be packing your bags and heading off into the great unknown. It's better start now and take the time to follow these guidelines, so that you can be comfortable with your decision in which college you want to go to. After all, you don't want to waste that money on something you're going to change in a year.