by Steven Witkin

Welcome to the college search. You have 2,970 options (as of 2012). Pick only one.

In reality, after narrowing down the field on location, size, difficulty, and school type, you might have 50 to choose from. Fifty schools, each with unique opportunities, strong academics, life-changing experiences, and friends yet to be made.

With each change of mind, your hypothetical future completely transforms. Your roommate and best friend is exchanged for another one, the classmate whose idea sends you on a summer research trip to Asia disappears and another equally engaging idea sets in its place, hundreds of miles away. Every one of those colleges is great for you, but how do you know which one is perfect for you?

You won’t, and you never will. But the application list has to be narrowed down somehow, so when searching for colleges, there were a few things I decided should be on or around every campus I applied to. A train station, an art museum, a body of water, and the most important criterion of all, plenty of squirrels. Each otherwise arbitrary criterion has its purpose. The train station, to get away. The art museum, also to get away (without leaving). The water for relaxation, and to ensure the school isn’t in the middle of nowhere. The squirrels? Because squirrels are happy. There should be something there to make you periodically happy throughout the grueling coursework.

Every college I visited fit the criteria, and although my little checklist neither simplified my list of colleges nor ensured that I went to the school with the most squirrels, it showed me that there is no perfect college. There is nothing so important to hold onto about a certain school that can’t be found in some form at another school. Just go and pick, even if it’s for the littlest reasons.