Yes…what in general and in particular…a student would like/want or consider while joining a school, college, uni or an academy?
Re: The Student's Likings...
Quality of faculty and their teaching philosophies. Sit in on their classes and see HOW they teach, and if you think that jives well with your study methods.
Look at how classes are arranged on a administration level.
How much funding is available for student-run projects.
What extra-curricular activities are there?
Quality of students. Are they people you'd be comfortable spending time with? Every school has its characteristic crowd.
Depending on what you want to do with your career, the reputation of the school in the area you want to pursue. Although this is a minimal thing, because reputation can take you only so far...
And most importantly, in my personal experience...where is the school located? You need to be comfortable in that city/town where you'll be attending university. People underrate this too much, and then they go to the university they want because of the rep it has, and then they regret going because the city was too cold, or too big/busy, or not busy enough, not entertaining enough, no family around, environs were ugly to look at, too cold, etc.
Re: The Student's Likings...
this topic seems to sit well with pcg,she KNOWS what she is talking about