Sometimes it really is easier to listen to the viewpoints of the experienced than to try and plow your way through life all on your own. So why wouldn’t it work for the college search process, too?

Zephyrus heard the stories of four 2011 Edina grads with diverse college perspectives—from coast to coast and beyond—and captured some of their nuggets of wisdom.

The Ivy Leaguer: Athena Bryan, who currently attends Brown University in Providence,Rhode Island, always knew that she wanted to live on the East Coast.

“I’d been conditioned to believe this is where things are exciting,” she explained. “The people are aggressive and lively.”

Still, her college choice process was a little arbitrary. “I just applied to one random Ivy school to see if I’d get in,” she admitted. Her atypical tactic proved effective: she got into Brown early action and is now loving her experience.

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been,” she said. “When you come here, you’re no longer the smartest person in the room. There’s a huge number of people in my dorm [who] were valedictorians at their school.” Sound intimidating? For Bryan, “it’s really awesome.”

The International Student: Zack Antar is now attending the University of Manitoba in Canada.

“Meeting new people from all walks of life and sharing in the freshman experience” has been Antar’s highlight of studying internationally.

The size is nice, too. “My school is pretty big. It has 27,000 students so you won’t necessarily know everyone, which was a big change fromEdina.”

The downside? “The worst experience I’ve suffered through has been my 8:00 a.m. classes.”

The West Coaster: Ngoc Tran decided on theUniversity of California at Berkeley after an overnight visit to the campus.

“They actually flew me out to see the school, which was really nice and I enjoyed my stay so I knew I wanted to go there,” he said.

For Tran, the size of the university is both a blessing and a difficulty. “There’s a lot of stuff going on here since it is such a big school,” he said. “There’s like 10,000 campus groups, literally.”

One catch: “If you don’t join a group, you are going to feel lost like a number here, and pretty fast, too…On the bright side, it’s not snowing here.”

The Local Student: Jordan Paster went with the close-to-home college approach and attends the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

“You can have the option of going back to your house whenever you need something or just are homesick,” he explained.

Some worry about the large freshman classes, but “they are still very manageable and there are a lot of opportunities here,” he said. Big schools have big draws too, like Division I athletics.

Paster’s advice to high schoolers, especially seniors: “take in every moment possible and enjoy it.”