myUface Blog

Over the past two weeks or so we’ve looked at a lot of factors you might use in your decision of which U.S. universities you’d like to attend.  We’ve tried to focus on some things that students often ignore:  things like proximity to cool activities or sites, the style and skill of actual professors, the climate, and the social atmosphere.

A complete listing of the posts in this series can be found at the bottom of this post.

In this concluding post I want to hammer home an important point:  do not let other people tell you what is important FOR YOU in a university. You are the world’s foremost expert on you.  No one else knows your preferences, your dreams, or your goals nearly as well as you do.  So make sure that you take control of your education and research U.S. universities according to your criteria.

If you are a person who really cares about the weather, then pay attention to the climate of your prospective universities.  If you love basketball, make sure you understand the sports and clubs your university offers.  If seeing a lot of tourist sites is important to you, make sure your university is well-situated for you to do that.  Do not, do not do not simply download a list off rankings and make your decisions based on those.  When you do that, you’re letting someone who knows absolutely nothing about you tell you what your priorities are.

Going to study at a U.S. university is a serious decision.  We’re talking about several years of your life here.  You owe it to yourself to spend some time researching possible schools and coming up with an institution that fits your own needs.

Now get out there and research!

Posts in this Series

1. Conclusion - How to Choose a U.S. University (This post)
2. Activities Around a University Campus - 01 Jun
3. Check Out U.S. Universities on iTunes U - 26 May
4. Extracurricular Activities - 25 May
5. Get to Know Your Potential Professors - 21 May
6. Don't Forget Your Life! - 20 May
7. What Do You Want to See in the U.S.? - 19 May
8. How Many International Students go to your Chosen University? - 18 May
9. The Problem with University Rankings - 17 May
10. Using Facebook to Research Universities - 14 May
11. Look at the Surrounding Neighborhoods When Looking at a U.S. University - 13 May
12. How Weather Should Factor Into Your Search for a U.S. University - 12 May
13. Looking for a University in the United States: Cost of Living - 11 May
14. Looking for a University in the United States - 10 May

When researching U.S. universities, it’s a good idea to learn about activities that are available in the geographic area around the university’s campus.  These activities will serve as yet another key component of your U.S. experience, and every university will have vastly different activities available.

This is not about tourist sites.  We covered tourism activities in a previous post.  This is about things you can do together with the friends you’ll meet at your university – things like bowling, skiing, surfing, going to the beach, hiking, camping, waterskiing, etc.

Now, generally speaking, I don’t know of any one website that has great information on every city and town in the U.S. A decent job is done by Citysearch, although it does tend to focus on bars, restaurants, and that sort of thing.  I find the best way to find out about the local scene is to simply google the name of a city, and then look for websites associated with it.  If you’re looking for specific activities, you can also locate the city in google maps, and then use the “Search Nearby” feature to look for anything.

For example, here is a map of bowling alleys located around Harvard University, obtained by entering “Harvard University Boston, MA” in google maps, and then “searching nearby” for “bowling alleys.”

This is also an area where Facebook can be helpful.  Community groups on Facebook are an excellent source of information about activities nearby campus.

Finally, this is another subject which you can ask the university about.  Most universities will have information about activities in the surrounding area.  If they don’t, it may be because there isn’t much in the surrounding area.

Posts in this Series

1. Conclusion - How to Choose a U.S. University - 02 Jun
2. Activities Around a University Campus (This post)
3. Check Out U.S. Universities on iTunes U - 26 May
4. Extracurricular Activities - 25 May
5. Get to Know Your Potential Professors - 21 May
6. Don't Forget Your Life! - 20 May
7. What Do You Want to See in the U.S.? - 19 May
8. How Many International Students go to your Chosen University? - 18 May
9. The Problem with University Rankings - 17 May
10. Using Facebook to Research Universities - 14 May
11. Look at the Surrounding Neighborhoods When Looking at a U.S. University - 13 May
12. How Weather Should Factor Into Your Search for a U.S. University - 12 May
13. Looking for a University in the United States: Cost of Living - 11 May
14. Looking for a University in the United States - 10 May

Hello readers -

I apologize for the radio silence over the past few days.  I was traveling in Southeastern Europe, and was doing fine until I experienced a total laptop meltdown.  Back at home now and I’ll resume daily posting.  I’ll also work on getting a podcast out here in the near future.

Sorry for the inconvenience.