With the college deposit deadline just a few days away, here are six tips to help you choose the best school for you.

When making your final decision, consider:

School Culture
Binghamton students represent almost 100 countries. Over 30% speak a language other than English at home, and another 30% are first-generation college students. You’ll find every race, ethnicity, and religion here. Binghamton will prepare you for the real world, where you’ll be interacting and working with all sorts of people. Your fellow classmates might even rival your professors when it comes to teaching you new things. The students here are friendly, passionate, and motivated. They work with each other, as opposed to in competition with one another.

Reputation
The Fiske Guide to Colleges has ranked Binghamton University the “premier public university in the northeast” for five consecutive years now. We’re also in our 11th consecutive year as one of the top 50 public universities in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report, and we just keep climbing the list! When Fortune 500 companies are looking to recruit, they look to Binghamton, and our students’ acceptances to medical, law, and graduate school are all way above the national average.

Size and Location
One of my favorite things about Binghamton is that you have all of the opportunities of a big university (tons of majors, renowned professors, top research facilities, giant alumni network, endless friends) with a wonderful small-school feel. It’s really the best of both worlds. We’re a mid-sized university, with 11,500 undergraduates, but unlike other schools of our size, you can walk any place on campus in about 10-15 minutes.
Our residence halls are grouped into communities and have a neighborhood-like feel.  Every neighborhood has its own personality, each with unique events held each year - like College in the Woods’ casino night. 
Binghamton University is a world unto itself. It is a self-contained campus, which means we are able to have excellent security. And, Princeton Review ranks us 17th in the nation when it comes to “more to do on campus.” We are home to the Binghamton Senators (ice hockey) and Mets (baseball)… Greek peak, a popular ski resort, is just 30 minutes away from campus… and that’s just the beginning!

Connection After You Graduate
Binghamton doesn’t wave goodbye and shut the door on you after graduation. Our career development center (CDC), for example, will always be committed to helping you with your career - even 20 years later! The CDC even keeps a database of alumni job titles, locations, and contact information. We can help you network, shadow alumni, get internships, and nail jobs. 

Price Tag
Take a look at your/your family’s financial picture. Compare the bottom line costs of the various schools your considering. Will one university’s education be vastly better than the other? What will your return investment be like (in terms of average starting salaries, name recognition, alumni network, etc.)?
Binghamton’s total cost for a year is under $16,000 for in-state students and under $22,000 for out-of-state students. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine named us one of the top five best values for in-state students and one of the top two for out-of-state students!
We also have over 90,000 alumni around the world, who love to give back to the Binghamton community and assist current students.

Go with YOUR Gut
Your parents won’t be spending the next four years at college - YOU will be. Pick the place that feels right for you. Maybe you visited a campus and just felt at home? Keep in mind that a school can look great on paper, but as soon as you step foot on campus you just know it’s not the place for you. Trust your instincts. Comparing rankings and going over stats will only tell you so much.

(Check out my blog from last week on the “Top 10 Reasons to Come to Binghamton")