With college just around the corner for high school seniors, the time is fast approaching for them to make decisions about what college they will attend, what course(s) they will pursue there, and what degree they are going to get.

Getting into a Utah college should not be a problem for most seniors. The only Utah colleges with acceptance rates below 95% are University of Utah at 81.7%, Southern Utah University at 76%, and Brigham Young University BYU is the lowest, at 49%. But even 49% is high in comparison to the lowest acceptance rate in the world, The Curtis Institute of Music, in Philadelphia at 4.8%.

During the school’s recent event, College Day, many colleges and universities visited, and each passed out booklets containing information about their school. Students were provided a booklet which contained a list of first semester tuition for many of the Universities present. Of these colleges, tuition prices ranged from $1,784 at SLCC to the highest at BYU with $5,510.

Of College Day, Michael Daniel, the School’s college adviser, said “What [the colleges] wanted you to know is why you going to them would be the best choice. They would each talk about admissions, campus life, things to do on or around campus, and event., They were pretty much trying to get you hyped up for their college, and of course trying to answer as many questions as you have.”

Anne Tobin, Senior, is planning on making USU her home long enough to earn a doctorate degree, “because [USU] has the program that I want to go into, and it’s … pretty much the only school in Utah that actually has that program.”

In case her plans don’t work out, Tobin has a backup.“If I don’t get accepted into [USU], or earn… a big enough scholarship, I want to go to the University of Utah.”

Another senior at the school, Jake Sandage, is undecided about what college he will attend. He said “there’s just a few options [that I’m looking at but not necessarily sold on] like BYU, U of U, [and] Dixie.” Sandage is also undecided about what degree he will earn, and like Tobin, he is looking for a college with the program he wants to go into.

As for the rest of the school’s senior population, 160 were surveyed, 76.7% of whom have made the decision about where they want to go to college. Of these, 4.1% will be joining Tobin at USU.

And, of the three universities which Sandage is considering, 4.1% of surveyed students are going to BYU, while the U of U will be taking 14.1%, and Dixie 19.3%.

Of those who, like Tobin, have made their decision already, the majority did so for three reasons:  32.1% chose based on programs, 20.4% based on price, and 9.5% for the student life at their choice university.

Among undecided students (23.3%), the majority, 40.2%, are, like Sandage, looking for a college with programs they are interested in, and  30.9% are seeking an affordable college.