There are a lot of factors that have to be taken into consideration when picking or selecting the right college these can range from the facilities at the college to safety the graduation rate the support services that are available and so on.

You may also want to take in the general appearance of the college although this is cosmetic but it’s always nice to attend a clean and well kept college rather than a dilapidated or run down facility as a run down college may well mean its problems are deeper than at first thought.

So let’s take a look into some of the factors that might help you as a prospective graduate to choose the right college whether it be Stratford upon Avon College r any other college in the UK or the world.

The First Factor is the Graduation Rate.

Some colleges respectively are more successful at graduating students than others this is normally based on a four year period as it is your goal to get a college degree therefore when calculating the cost of your college degree you need to take graduation rates seriously into account. This is because if at a certain college students are not graduating in a four year period but are taking five to six years than you should not budget for fours years tuition (Based on the majority of students) so check on the percentage or the graduation rate as you must be aware that there are often always good reasons why some colleges have better graduation rates than others.

Student to Faculty Ratio

This respectively is the ration of teachers or professors to the number of students in each class so if a college has a 3 to 1 student/faculty ratio this does not necessarily mean that you can expect a class to have 3 students to one teacher. The simple rule to follow is that if the ratio is quite low than there is more chance at the college of a teacher been able to give you more personal attention say 7 to 1 but in a college with a 20 to 1 ratio you will find that the classes will be big and the faculty or teachers will be overstretched and any one to one tuition with a particular student will be very slim or none at all. But take into account that different colleges have varying ways of calculating these ratios for example they may count student instructors as teachers therefore raising the student to teacher ratio so remember this is not a exact science. As a rule you may want to find out the average class size feel free to ask this when visiting the college as well as asking about how large are the seminars or how many students attend or are allocated to a lab say plus the maximum enrolments allowed in different classes.

Financial Aid.

Its no good picking a good college if you cannot pay for it so you need to know exactly what the college you intend to go to will cost. So when doing your research into colleges it quite easy to find out what percentage of students receive financial aid in the way of a grant and also find out what the average amount may be.

You may want to look at both private and public colleges and make a comparison as rule private colleges are able to offer more in the way of a significant grant aid rather than public colleges.

Also look at the average amount of loans that students take out to pay for there ideal college. Remember that loans can burden you for over a decade after finishing college or graduation. So while a loan can help with your tuition it can also be a big headache for instance if you have a mortgage to pay on top of your loan.

Research Opportunities

This depends on what college or course you attend so when in your senior year and you start to apply for jobs there is nothing more rewarding than having some hands on practical experience to fall back on and it looks great on your CV.So look for the college that offers experimental learning and have good programs in place to do this ask the question does the college have funds in place to support independent undergraduate research and does the college have good relationships with prospective companies to help students get much needed summer jobs or positions in their particular field of study. Also make sure that the college does not limit research opportunities to just engineering and science a good college should provide all round opportunities for all types of courses.

Interesting Curriculum

Does the college you intend to go to have a wide variety of courses available and do the core courses make any sense and do they get you excited. Some colleges offer a wide range of topics and subjects some do not but make up a lack of courses with subjects of really little interest. For example does the course you intend to do cover the subject areas you want to study? It’s like attending a college for a accounting course only to find that they only specialise in marketing. So it worthwhile spending time exploring the courses on offer at a college with a wide spectrum so that you are not limited but you are able to expand if you wish once you have started the course of your particular interest.

Interests and Club Activities.

Most colleges offer extracurricular activities from football to rugby to various other sports so take a look into what the college offers in the way of Clubs does the college concentrate on a particular activity or sport or is their a wide scope on offer. Does the college complement your interests after all although your main aim at college is to get your particular degree your life while there will be pretty miserable and not very stimulating if you do not have a activity you like to participate in outside of the classroom.

Health Facilities

It’s quite common to believe that when attending college that all students live on is fast food and pizza so it’s a good idea to look into what the college has to offer in the way of health facilities as well as in the canteen. When a large number of students say from all over the world are placed in one place you are going to expect some germs to be present like colds and flu etc so it a good idea to find out if the college has good health facilities like a gym or a swimming pool etc and does the menu at the canteen have healthy options like fruit salads or is it all just fried food on offer each day. Plus does the college have programs in place that deal with responsible drinking and is there counselling in place for those students who may be experiencing depression or anxiety in relation to stress with the courses they are doing. Remember that your health when attending college is of prime importance as with a healthy body and mind you are more likely to succeed at college than those students who aren’t

College Safety.

Colleges nowadays are mostly safe but its always a good idea to find out what the general surrounding area is like in regards to crime. Students can be tempting and easy targets for petty thieves like car crime or bicycle theft as well as muggings and even more serious crime like rape. Is the college you intend to go to in a crime ridden area or how many incidents of crime have been recorded at the college? Also does the college provide escort and ride services especially for overseas students who are not very familiar with the area (not locally based) for evenings and weekends. You will probably find that colleges that are located in central cities may be more prevalent to crime this is normally outside the college area but in general colleges are extremely safe places.

Learning Support Services.

Any student during there academic years at college will struggle at a certain time so when looking for your ideal college try to find out what the learning support services are like. For instance can you get one to one study with a tutor on a subject you are struggling with or is there a learning lab that you can attend. Does the college offer faculties for people with disabilities some colleges respectively are better at providing these out of class services than others so do your research.

Strong Job and Career Services

You are respectively attending college so that when you graduate you will either get yourself into a good graduate program or land that dream job you always wanted. So look into the college’s careers services and ask theses questions about its services like.

1. Does the College provide Meaningful Summer Jobs?

2. Are job fairs held at the college?

3. What sort of percentage of students goes onto graduate school?

4. How successful is the college’s job placement rate?

5. Does the college help with the writing of CVs?

6. Does the college conduct mock interviews to help students assess and prepare for that all important first interviews?

7. Does the college have a strong relationship with prospective companies and organisations to help students get leads on jobs?

So look into these as guidance when choosing your college.

Computing Infrastructure.

As you would expect most colleges have good computing facilities to hand whether it’s for courses work or just enjoyment but its still a good idea to get an idea of what the computing structure is at your intended college.

Ask how many computing labs are available at the college and how long to they open for and how good the wireless connection is? are there any dead spots where your laptop may not work. What are the printing facilities like and is there a charge for using the printer. Plus can you borrow laptops or cameras or any other equipment from the college when yours are not readily available. Also are classes supported by software like online courses or management software? Are there ports Ethernet connections for every student in there rooms and is the college internet bandwidth adequate enough to cope with maximum usage at peak times or will it get bogged down.

Opportunities to Lead

When applying for Jobs it’s always good to demonstrate good leadership skills so you will want to choose a college that will provide you with theses skills.

So does your intended college offer public speaking classes or workshops and are there opportunities to become tutors or mentors to other students. How difficult or easy is it to become head of a students union or a member of an activity or club. Is there a program in place to say you have studied a leadership course and is there a certificate to prove that.

So when looking for your ideal College take these pointers into consideration for more information on College in Stratford upon Avon visit: Stratford upon Avon College.