Another factor to consider when choosing a college is its reputation.  One of the best known sources of information regarding college rankings is the US News and World Report annual Best Colleges report.  To see the report for 2010 visit http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges. In 2008 Forbes magazine also began publishing an annual list of “America’s Best Colleges”.   Other published sources of college rankings are listed in Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_and_university_rankings.

Another method of evaluating the reputation of a school is to seek out people who are working in careers that you find interesting and then ask these people which schools would best prepare someone to work in that career.

It is also helpful to know what terms like “Ivy League” and “Sevens Sisters Colleges” and other sports related terms like “PAC-10″ mean because some people define college reputation by the divisions in which the sports teams play.

Finally, another strategy is to visit the school and see what students, faculty and community members have to say about the school.

The better you understand the reputations of the schools you are considering, the better you will be able to choose one that will be the right fit for you for the full length of time that it will take to get the degree you desire.