So you're out of high school and looking at brochures from colleges. How do you decide what college you want to join? What are the questions you need to ask - To yourself and to the college? Does geography matter? What about finances? Friends? Curriculum? Majors? What do your parents want you to do? For that matter, if you are an anxious parent worried about your kid's future, how do you offer counsel, or do your research, to find the best possible college for your child? This hub will, or at least try to, answer all these questions, and more.

No one can tell you better about a college than it's current students. The image above can be found on Zirana.com, which is posting videos on the college admissions process and helpful, information about each college. These videos are interviews with current students, where they outline what the college offers and their own experience of getting into the college and their thoughts about life in college.

You can do the same. Just prepare a shortlist of colleges you are interested in, head over to the campus and talk to people. Talk to students, professors, management and anyone else you can find. Walk around and get a feel of the place. Remember, you are going to be spending a lot of time here, and you want to select a college which offers a high degree of comfort for you, where you fit in and are able to focus on your studies rightaway, rather than waste time trying to become socially acceptable, or change your lifestyle.

Now this is an entirely new maze you need to navigate, often time entirely unrelated to educational or student issues. Question is, as a parent, have you planned for your children's education? A lot of parents today are saving up in 529 college savings plans, which offer extended tax benefits, provided the funds are used for educational purposes only. If you do not have any such savings, college tuition fees nationwide are growing faster than inflation rates, and you might be in need of a scholarship, or grant. This would change the focus of your college search from educational offerings to financial offerings.

The Yale endowment has more than $22.5 billion in its coffers as of now. Harvard, Stanford University and other top college endowments are similarly bulging at the seams, and offer all kinds of financial assistance programs for prospective students. There are also private charitable trusts and financial organizations who offer student loans. Please note that piling debt on a child even before he starts earning is not exactly a sterling way to get him up on his feet.

Geography also affects this decision a lot. If you can find an educational institute close by your residence, or at least in-state, that makes a big difference, from every angle. Parents can keep in touch, and keep an eye on, the progress of their children. Students get more support, both monetary and moral, from parents, family, siblings and friends. Expenses on things such as long distance calls ( believe me - It makes a big difference) and trips back and forth between home and college are vastly reduced.

In summary, do your own research, focus on which college offfers the best outlet for your talents, is a good fit for your personality, and which is financially viable for you or your parents (or child, if you are a parent). And please, please do not select a college unless you have personally visited the place and talked to a few people.