There are two tough questions students tackle on a daily basis, what do you want for dinner, and where are you going to college? With counselors, teachers, parents and friends bombarding students with questions about the future while they are attempting to do homework and just have fun, it’s no wonder high school is so stressful.

 Newsweek’s Best Colleges Lists for 2014 were released placing no other than Minnesota’s own Carleton College at number seven in the top National Universities. Ranking has always been crucial to universities in terms of number of applicants, but to students it can mean more job opportunities and possibly a better education, for a higher cost.

For senior Carly Johnson the college search has been a hectic one, as her “fluid” list continues changing, and national rank has always been somewhat important.

“I wish to say that it doesn’t,” she said,  “but ranking and name do play a huge part in it, because it’s really easy to look online at ranks, and get caught up in expensive schools, and it’s really useful to see how it compares.”

However rank is not the only criteria in the hunt for the perfect college, when making the right choice one has to consider cost, community atmosphere, programs offered and more.

“What makes a college ‘the right choice’ for me is how busy is the campus, and do I fit in to the community culture,” Johnson said. “The prestigious schools look great on paper, but sometimes when you pick a school for the ‘name on the gate’ you lose yourself. At the end of the day, it’s best to pick a school where you’ll be truly happy.”

Similarly to Johnson, sophomore Ace Oubaha believes that, while important, rank does not mean everything when finding the right school.

“If a college can support and help you in the field that you plan on going into, and offers a good program for you, then it is ‘the right choice,’” Oubaha said, “If there happens to be a ‘lower-ranked’ school with a pretty good program, it could definitely work.”

 When it comes to finding the right school, the programs offered can change even the most certain of applicants. Take senior Caroline Mercer, an avid foreign language student, was very keen on Carleton because of its “tightly-knit campus,” size, location and diverse religions served in their church.

“It kind of seemed like the classic college experience,” Mercer said. “Carleton didn’t work out for me because their language program was too limited for my taste.”

For students, life after college is a main concern while selecting colleges to apply to. With the national unemployment rate at 7.1 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, many students fear unemployment.

“Employers often will place value on big-name schools,” Oubaha said. “The name only matters if you plan on going into a competitive field. Granted, many fields today are competitive.”

What college a graduate comes from seems to make a difference with roughly 60 percent of Carleton graduates receiving employment. Although, in the end a degree from a selective school could end up just some fancy piece of artwork hanging on the wall.

“We think that if we say we went to Harvard or Yale, or another big name school, then we’re assured that we won’t fail,” said Johnson, “or if we do, at least we did something that people will hear and think ‘that’s amazing.’”