there is a vast range of schools to choose from. probably the vast majority of top schools are private. with a decent scholar ship these private schools can be unlocked for free but these scholar ships are driven by merit in school, sports, community, and other activities. school is not for everyone. people who do the best in college are drive, motivated, and believe in what they are doing and love school. for the most part though the schools just want your money and are very good at taking it for nothing in return. afterall what is an education worth without a degree. many times school choice is directly related to what career path one is looking into. probably the next thing to look into is how to pay for the school, and in many cases how much debt is it worth leaving school with. state schools long looked at as being great values are increasingly unable to adapt to world changes, are charging way too much for public institutions, and leave most kids stuck with pointless degrees that will get them nowhere in life. a part of this could be attributable to not investing time and effort into clubs and organizations, jobs, and other things that will foreward the kids careers. anouther reason is that state schools are so big and students are a number in an organism that sees people milled through. at my college some 15 percent of incomming freshmen graduate withing 6 years. this is dispicable and pathetic but is a reality. many people millions have gone to american state schools with the perfect grades from highshcool as a cost saving alternative to the private and ivy league schools and have been chewed up and now have the degree but because of the low quality of education dont have the career or grad school options. the largest cross section of people who attend state school grad schools actually do come from the bettar private schools so dont be fooled when these state schools say that they have the best education on earth. they dont they all say that. technical community colleges and other trade certificate schools do offer good value but unless you are going for the certificate where you only need to take classes in the field than these places will be like a repeat of high school. i went to a general community college and it sucked then i went to a school that gave a certificate in like 15 credits of welding classes and now i have a metal welding art certificate. pointless but bettar than sitting in a class tough by some half wit wanna be highshool teach telling the class what a bunch of idiots they are. look for opportunity in these places but dont depend on them. my community college was a 100x's harder then my college so try to get into the best school possible and pay attention to the hierarchies and rankings because they are key. here is the hierarchy of options get into the best one you can ivey league- private - public- internship trade tech etc. never sell yourself short in the school game unless you want to wast many years and thousands of dollars. you can do anything and often times the bettar the school and the teacher the easier. private schools are exclusive clubs that with internships and jobs appropriate to your study ensure that you will be at the top of the field in the long run. for example our president george bush seems homely but look at the schools he went to and he was most likely anouther billionair at harvard or was that yale or both! if you want to rise to the top of the bull shit societal hierarchy these schools are key. people will take you seriously reguardless if you just partied and got d minuses! there is alot of talk about the public ives and this is bull shit. the traditional public ives are madison, ucla, uf, every state school in ny etc major regional schools that are much bettar than most public insitutions. private schools are much bettar. i went to a public ivy and i have never gotten anything out of it i cant even remember what i learned and i graduated a year ago. i think the public ivy is a dispicable distinction that should be abolished. american public schools such, they are great places to get derailed in life and uninspired. anouther major component of choosing a college is go to places where the people wont be racist (all prejudices are socially constructed) etc. some places are bettar than others and if people arent prejudiced as much you will find many more experiences.